Ke'Bryan Hayes, the Pirates' top third base prospect, has not been the field for summer camp yet, Derek Shelton said during a Zoom call Thursday night.
Shelton did not offer a reason for that, just as he did not the previous night when disclosing that Keone Kela has not been on the field yet, either.
Hayes came into the year expecting to make the leap to the majors in 2020. He was one of 40 players the Pirates invited to PNC Park for their summer camp.
Shelton previously had said all the players they expected to be in Pittsburgh had reported, which would include Hayes.
Major League Baseball teams will not reveal any details about players’ health information in 2020 unless that player consents. The Pirates have had two players consent to share their positive COVID-19 tests: Reliever Blake Cederlind and outfielder Socrates Brito. Both have been isolated.
Summer camp started with light activities on July 1, and the first team workout happened July 3.
Shelton said he expected position players to be a little behind pitchers coming into camp after the long layoff. There are only two more weeks remaining of camp, with the regular season starting July 24. Because of that, a longer layoff could make it more likely that Hayes would need to start the season in the alternate spring training camp in Altoona, Pa..
"I think that will be on an individual basis on what we’re doing," Shelton said. "I think we’ll work through that as we get to it. Like we’ve talked about with everything, we’re making adjustments day-by-day. We’ll adjust up until the day that we start the season in St. Louis."
MORE CAMP COVERAGE
• Kuhl willing to forfeit velocity
• Kela has not been on field yet
