Hayes has played with a herniated disc in his back for much of the season, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Hayes missed most of May with the issue, and while he's stayed off the injured list since then, it sounds like the discomfort hasn't really gone away. It could at least partly explain the 27-year-old's dreadful .233/.283/.290 batting line this season. There doesn't seem to be any talk at this point of surgery and/or shutting Hayes down, but perhaps that changes when/if the Pirates decide they don't have a realistic chance of making the postseason. Hayes has five more years left on the eight-year, $70 million contract extension he signed in April of 2022.