BRADENTON, Fla. – Ke’Bryan Hayes returned to action last week, starting a rehab assignment in the Gulf Coast League. He played in a game on August 20th, and another game on the 22nd. Since then, he hasn’t appeared in a game. Pirates Prospects has learned that Hayes has been shut down with a cracked rib.
Hayes was returning from a swelling of the rhomboid muscles in his back, which led to a little over a month out of action. He said his back was feeling better once he got down to Bradenton for rehab, and he was able to play in games — throwing and hitting — with no soreness. However, he started experiencing some pain after he started rehabbing, and was sent to the doctor, where they found the cracked rib.
When I talked to Hayes after his start on the 20th, he had this to say about the pain in his back before going on the disabled list, with the bold part for my emphasis.
“Whenever I would hit, that would make it start hurting. At first, it was just hurting [on my back],” Hayes said. “Then it started hurting in my chest. Whenever I would throw, it would start hurting. Whenever I would do my therapy, whenever I was in West Virginia and I had to throw, it would feel alright. But as soon as I’d start to hit, that was when it started hurting pretty bad, and then throwing started hurting.”
I’m not sure how long the cracked rib has been an issue, as I’ve yet to catch up with Hayes since his rehab was shut down, but it’s possible this additional injury was there much earlier, being hidden by the back injury.
At this point, Hayes won’t return for the regular season, although he didn’t have much of a chance of that before. No word on whether he would be ready for instructs.
Abigail Miskowiec contributed to this report.
