KC Star | Posnanski: Disco Hayes defies the odds in Royals’ system

[...] In Omaha, I watch Alex Gordon mope his way through a Class AAA game. Gordon, of course, was the second pick in the 2005 amateur draft, the can’t-miss prospect, the Midwestern kid with the George Brett swing and the swagger in his walk. Now, after two patchy big-leagues seasons and a third scarred by injuries and strikeouts, he’s here in Omaha, barking at umpires seemingly after every pitch, walking with his shoulders slumped, looking for all the world like someone who has been wronged by life.

Instead, I am writing about a 26-year-old relief pitcher some call Disco Hayes.

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They call Chris Hayes “Disco” because he throws in the 70s. Isn’t that beautiful? Everything about Disco Hayes is like that — funny and self-deprecating but also oddly confident. Disco Hayes believes he will get out big-league hitters. He doesn’t believe that he can get them out. He believes he will. And no one yet has shaken that belief.

Oh, Disco is a smart guy — a Northwestern grad with a computer science degree. He understands why people may think that an undrafted pitcher who throws sidearm fastballs at 78 mph isn’t a big-league prospect. He sympathizes with those people. Hey, if Disco didn’t know better, he might think the same thing. But he does know better.