Hayes dealing with back soreness in stretch run

CINCINNATI -- It’s the time of season when aches and pains can flare up at a moment’s notice.

And for Ke’Bryan Hayes, the moment is coming at a very difficult time as his teammates are desperately fighting for the third and final Wild Card spot in the National League.

Hayes, acquired from the Pirates at the Trade Deadline, has been a mainstay at third base, stabilizing the spot for the Reds and providing Gold Glove-caliber defense ever since moving to Cincinnati.

Hayes' bat has been a bit of a pleasant surprise, slashing .254/.327/.381 with three home runs and 12 RBIs in 43 games with the Reds since the deal with Pittsburgh. He was not in the starting lineup on Thursday night due to back soreness. For a second straight game, rookie Sal Stewart took his place at the hot corner. He batted cleanup and went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts.

The Reds (77-76) have nine games remaining and are just two games behind the Mets (79-74) for the third NL Wild Card position after a 1-0 win over the Cubs in the opener of the four-game series at Great American Ball Park.

“His back's been a little uncooperative, so just trying to kind of keep an eye on him,” Reds skipper Terry Francona said before Thursday’s game. “And he's got a guy that he really goes to and likes, and we actually tried to get him to come down here, but I guess there's this table or something. So we're trying to get him seen.”

Hayes’ specialist is in Indianapolis, and the plan is for the veteran third baseman to go up I-74 soon for that appointment.

“I guess he goes up to Indy pretty often,” Francona said. “And I've told him, 'If you can get your appointment, go.' So he's trying to do it. He just doesn't know if he can do it before Monday. So we're just going to go day to day.”

This is a back issue that has cropped up before with Hayes. Francona tried to get Hayes a day off in St. Louis, but Spencer Steer came up with an injury. Hayes went 0-for-3 both Monday and Tuesday before sitting out Wednesday’s finale in St. Louis.

“Yeah, he does a really good job with it,” Francona said. “Like, he stays on it really, really well. Just noticed him in St Louis, he wasn't going to play the one day, and then he did, and Steer kind of jacked up his neck.

“And I just watched him during the game. He wasn't sitting down much. So just try to keep an eye on him a little bit.”

Until he sees his specialist, Hayes remains with the team and even took ground balls before Thursday night’s game alongside Stewart at third. He replaced Stewart in the top of the ninth for defensive purposes.