Where does Pirates Ke’Bryan Hayes rank among MLB third basemen?

Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes hopes to continue growing in the 2025 season.

Hayes, 28, is entering his sixth season for the Pirates after being chosen in the first round of the 2015 MLB Draft.

While Hayes was expected to be one of the best third basemen in the bigs, he hasn’t become that quite yet. Bleacher Report writer Joel Reuter ranked all 30 starting third basemen, and Hayes came in at No. 22.

Always an elite defender, Hayes appeared to turn a corner offensively with a 103 OPS+ and 53 extra-base hits during the 2023 season, but he took a significant step backward last season. In 96 games, he hit .233/.283/.290 for a 61 OPS+ with 13 extra-base hits and 0.8 WAR. The…