Hoy Park is nothing if not humble, yet he couldn’t help but needle one of his Pittsburgh Pirates teammates after hitting the first home run of his major-league career.

After Park sent J.A. Happ’s four-seam fastball 379 feet into the right-field seats in the fourth inning — the Pirates’ only hit in a 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night at PNC Park — Park gave starting pitcher Steven Brault some grief for his good-natured ribbing.

“He made sure to ask if I was OK with that launch angle,” Brault said, “because I had been giving him a lot of crap about launch angle and how he just keeps hitting the ball in the gap instead of hitting it over the fence.”

The 6-foot-1, 175-pound Park launched that one at a 30-degree angle, with an effortless swing that can be best described, as Pirates manager Derek Shelton did, as “simple.”

“There’s a little bit of thump coming off the bat,” Shelton said. “It’s a really smooth, easy swing. He creates that torque from his midsection.”

Where Park downplayed the homer as simply finding a good pitch to hit and swinging on time, that it came against a 15-year veteran left-hander such as Happ impressed Brault. It was the only hit Happ allowed in six innings and only the second hit and first run he has given up to the Pirates in 13 1/3 innings against them in two starts this season.

“I’m super happy for him. He’s a great kid. He’s really good. I’m excited to see what he’ll be able to do here,” Brault said. “But yeah, it was cool to see, because J.A. Happ, he’s a seasoned veteran. He’s been around for a long time. That’s a cool first home run for Hoy, so I’m super excited for him, and I think he’ll hit a good amount more.”

In his first eight games with the Pirates since being acquired from the New York Yankees in a trade involving reliever Clay Holmes, the 25-year-old Park is batting .321 (9 for 28) with a .983 OPS. He has four doubles, including one that drove in two runs against Milwaukee, and four RBIs while scoring three runs.

Happ had retired the first nine batters in order when he threw his four-seamer inside on a 1-1 pitch. It jammed Park, who turned on it quickly to drive it over the Clemente Wall in right field.

“It was gone,” Park said, “so I was really happy for that.”

Park also is happy to help his new team wherever it needs him. After starting games at shortstop and all three outfield positions, he made his debut at second base against the Cardinals. Shelton wanted to see his footwork on the other side of the bag, and Park delivered by turning a double play on a Nolan Arenado grounder in the third inning.

“I don’t care about where I’m playing,” Park said. “I just want to help my teammates, help the team win.”

Park certainly isn’t complaining about batting leadoff and hitting in front of Ke’Bryan Hayes and Bryan Reynolds or getting a shot to earn consistent playing time, whether it’s in the middle infield or outfield. If there’s one thing Park would like to change, it’s this: In his first eight games with the Pirates, they are 1-7.

Park would have preferred to hit his first MLB home run under different circumstances.

“I believe in myself that it’s going to be good, that it’s going to help the team,” Park said, “but, yeah, I wish it was a win.”

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)