Ke'Bryan Hayes returns to Pittsburgh after being traded to the playoff-chasing Reds

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Ke’Bryan Hayes said he thought he might be in Pittsburgh to stay before the Pirates traded him July 30 to NL Central rival Cincinnati.

He returned to Pittsburgh on Thursday for the first time since he was dealt, with the Pirates opening a four-game series against the Reds.

Hayes' future with the Pirates looked secure after he signed a $70 million, eight-year contract in 2022.

“The reason I signed the contract here in Pittsburgh, I wanted to be here and maybe play here my whole career,” Hayes said. “But baseball's a business at the end of the day.”

The Pirates played a video tribute to Hayes when he came to bat in the third inning. As the crowd cheered, with many fans standing, Hayes doffed his batting helmet.

The Gold Glove third baseman went from an organization that was well outside the playoffs race to a Reds team competing for a wild-card spot. Pittsburgh was 49-66 heading into Thursday's game and last in the division; Cincinnati was 60-55 and three games out of a playoff spot.

“It's been great over here," Hayes said. “They've welcomed me with big arms. We're in playoff contention.”

Hayes, the son of former major leaguer Charlie Hayes and a first-round draft pick by the Pirates in 2015, struggled to find consistency at the plate following his splashy debut during the final month of the COVID-19-shortened season in 2020. He hit .376 with five homers in 24 games immediately after being called up, numbers that he didn’t come close to matching while playing a full 162-game schedule.

Hayes hit .236 with two home runs and 36 RBIs this season for the Pirates. Through six games with the Reds, he was batting .211 with a homer and three RBIs.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

FILE - Pittsburgh Pirates' Ke'Bryan Hayes, recently traded to the Cincinnati Reds, strikes out swinging during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, June 24, 2023, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)

Cincinnati Reds catcher Jose Trevino, left, celebrates with Spencer Steer, center, and Ke'Bryan Hayes after the Reds defeated the Chicago Cubs in a baseball game in Chicago, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

FILE - Pittsburgh Pirates' Ke'Bryan Hayes, recently traded to the Cincinnati Reds, strikes out swinging during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, June 24, 2023, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)

Cincinnati Reds' Ke'Bryan Hayes runs to first base after hitting a single off Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes during the third inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Cincinnati Reds' Ke'Bryan Hayes singles off Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes during the third inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Cincinnati Reds third base Ke'Bryan Hayes, left, visits with Pittsburgh Pirates' Oneil Cruz (15) who stands on third base during the first inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Cincinnati Reds' Ke'Bryan Hayes, right, gets set for a pitch as Pittsburgh Pirates' Oneil Cruz, left, leads off third base during the first inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Cincinnati Reds catcher Jose Trevino, left, celebrates with Spencer Steer, center, and Ke'Bryan Hayes after the Reds defeated the Chicago Cubs in a baseball game in Chicago, Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

FILE - Pittsburgh Pirates' Ke'Bryan Hayes, recently traded to the Cincinnati Reds, strikes out swinging during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins, June 24, 2023, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)

NEW YORK (AP) — Min Jin Lee's first novel since her million-selling “Pachinko” is a long book that grew out of a basic question: What do Koreans care most about?

“We’re obsessed with education, and it became my obsession over why Koreans care so much,” says Lee, whose “American Hagwon,” scheduled for Sept. 29, will likely be one of the year's most anticipated books. Hagwons are for-profit tutoring centers — sometimes likened to “cram schools” — where Koreans of all ages receive instruction for everything from English to guitar to cooking. Any language school or organization that gives private lesson music classes” can be considered a Hagwon, Lee says.

The author, 57, calls herself an “accidental historian,” a novelist who uses broad narratives to unearth the past, make sense of the present and explore race, gender and class among other issues. “American Hagwon” is the third of a planned quartet about Korea and the Korean diaspora that began with “Free Food for Millionaires” in 2007 and continued a decade later with “Pachinko,” a National Book Award finalist that was adapted by Apple TV+ into a series and has been translated into dozens of languages.

In 2024, The New York Times ranked “Pachinko” at No. 15 among the best novels of the 21st century.

Cardinal, a Hachette Book Group imprint, is calling her new release a deep look into “what happens when the rules shift, the world order becomes suddenly unrecognizable and benchmarks of success are no longer a guarantee.” In “American Hagwon,” Lee sets her story everywhere from Korea to Australia to Southern California as she tracks the journey of a middle-class Korean family upended by the Asian financial crisis and hoping to regain its bearings.

“Almost 10 years after Pachinko, Min Jin Lee continues to give shape to history’s seismic shifts in her fiction, refracting generational change through indelible, masterfully etched characters you can’t help rooting for,” Cardinal Publisher and Senior Vice President Reagan Arthur said in a statement.

A native of Seoul whose family emigrated to New York City when she was 7, Lee attended the elite Bronx High School of Science, studied history at Yale University and law at Georgetown University. She knows well the importance of preparation, and laughs as she remembers that her father has nicknamed her “the turtle,” because she is slow — but “very steady.” Her books take a long time, in part, because she puts so much work into them. Her stories are based not just on research and reflection, but on extended travel and interviews.

“I want to hold up a mirror to society, and, as the kids say, do a ’vibe check,” she says.

FILE - Min Jin Lee attends the GQ Global Creativity Awards in New York on April 6, 2023. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)