Pirates notebook: Phillip Evans 'ready to play everywhere' when Ke'Bryan Hayes returns

Apr. 12—When the Pittsburgh Pirates were counting on a rookie third baseman to bat second and provide some pop in the lineup, no one was expecting it would be Phillip Evans instead of Ke'Bryan Hayes.

The 28-year-old Evans isn't your average rookie. A journeyman who played 34 games for the New York Mets in 2017-18 and spent a season with the Chicago Cubs' Triple-A affiliate, Evans made the Pirates out of spring training last year and had a hot bat before suffering a season-ending broken jaw in a collision with Gregory Polanco.

Evans has taken advantage of Hayes' stint on the 10-day injured list with a sore wrist to get off to another strong start. Evans entered Sunday's game against the Cubs batting .391 (9 for 23) with three home runs and four RBIs and had reached safely in all six games he'd started, a streak he stretched to seven by going 2 for 5 in Sunday's 7-1 win over the Cubs.

"I treat every day like it's a new day," Evans said. "I'm preparing for every position, wherever they want to put me out there. Knowing I'll get some more at-bats during Key's downtime, it's definitely confidence-building for me. Like I said, every day I'm coming to the ballpark with the same attitude, same mentality every night."

Hayes, who was placed on the 10-day IL on April 4, is eligible to be activated Wednesday. Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said Sunday on his weekly radio show on 93.7 FM that he doesn't have a "firm timeline" for when Hayes will return. Cherington was asked if it's possible Evans could remain in the lineup but play other positions.

"I think maybe both," Cherington said. "We know there are guys who effectively become everyday players by playing a lot of places."

Pirates manager Derek Shelton values the versatility of Evans — who has played third base, right field, left field and even pitched an inning this season — and said the key is Evans always is prepared to play.

"I think the thing that plays the most is, No. 1, going into it they know they're going to play multiple positions," Shelton said. "We were very transparent with Phil breaking camp, like, 'You could play first. You could play second. You could play third. You could play both corners. Be ready to play everywhere.' "

Way to pitch, Mitch

Shelton shared what he told starting pitcher Mitch Keller in the dugout when they embraced during Saturday night's 8-2 win over the Cubs that ended a six-game losing streak, emphasizing he was more concerned with the 25-year-old right-hander for the way he's handled adversity after a rough spring training and first start.

"The nature of it was I just told him how proud I was of him," Shelton said. "He had a couple starts where he had struggled, and he went out in a situation where we had lost a few games in a row, and he pitched really well, and he walked the leadoff hitter, bounced right back, was able to execute. So that was just the message: I really appreciated the effort."

Good lead, good read

After giving up double-digit runs in back-to-back games at Cincinnati, Shelton said the Pirates needed to flush the road trip and recalibrate. Among the areas of focus was being more aggressive at the plate and better at running the bases.

Shelton credited Bryan Reynolds for taking a good lead at second base and making a good read on the turn at third on Colin Moran's two-RBI single in the second inning to beat the throw at the plate and extend a seven-run inning.

"It's really easy to say, 'Oh, you shouldn't get doubled up. You should tag here,' " Shelton said. "But when things happen really well, we have to make sure we identify them, too, and Reynolds probably made about as well of a read last night as he could have made going to home. It was a bang-bang play. ... Those things are important, too, so we need to talk about those, not just the negative connotation things."

Tough trio

The San Diego Padres visit PNC Park for a four-game series, and their probable starters includes 2020 NL Cy Young runner-up Yu Darvish against Trevor Cahill on Monday, 2018 AL Cy Young winner Blake Snell against Chad Kuhl on Tuesday and former Pirates pitcher Joe Musgrove, coming off a no-hitter against Texas, against Tyler Anderson on Wednesday. Lefty Adrian Morejon is pegged to start Thursday afternoon against Keller.

"Those three are decent, so we've definitely got our work cut out for us," Pirates catcher Jacob Stallings said. "I think guys will be ready, though. We've got confident guys going into the series. Hopefully, we can keep it going."

Kevin Gorman is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Kevin by email at kgorman@triblive.com or via Twitter .