PITTSBURGH — Ke’Bryan Hayes forgot to touch ’em all.
The Pittsburgh Pirates rookie third baseman missed first base while running out a home run Tuesday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers and was called out after a replay review.
Hayes stung an opposite-field line drive in the first inning against the Dodgers’ Walker Buehler that narrowly cleared the right-field wall, just inside the foul pole. Running hard and with his eyes on the ball, Hayes missed touching first base with his left foot by two or three inches and kept on going.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts challenged, and umpires overturned the call after a short video review.
“Obviously, Ke’ got caught watching the ball,” Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton said. “It’s one of those things that Ke’ thought he caught the back corner of [the bag], and he didn’t. If he even thinks he misses it, he has to go back and touch it.”
The Pirates did not make Hayes available to reporters following the game.
Hayes was also thrown out at second base trying to tag up from first on a flyout to left field to end the third inning.
The 24-year-old Hayes — the son of former 14-year big leaguer Charlie Hayes — hit .376 with five homers in 24 games last season and entered 2021 as a heavy favorite to win NL Rookie of the Year. He sprained his left wrist in Pittsburgh’s second game and missed two months, finally returning to action last week.
Hayes wasn’t the only top prospect with a homer trot miscue Tuesday. Kansas City Royals minor leaguer Bobby Witt Jr., the club’s top prospect, was called out after an umpire ruled he missed home plate finishing out a homer for Double-A Northwest Arkansas. It would have been Witt’s second homer of the game.
Earlier this season, the Pirates’ Will Craig made an egregious fielding mistake when all he had to do was tag Chicago Cubs baserunner Javier Baez or touch first for the final out of an inning. Craig has since been designated for assignment by Pittsburgh.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.