Baltimore Orioles 2020 Player Review: Austin Hays

In 2020, Austin Hays made some strides for the Baltimore Orioles, until he was injured.

Austin Hays played his third season in four years with the Baltimore Orioles in 2020. Hays has a long ways to go, but the O’s are looking forward to his contributions.

His 2020 season contributed a lot to the Orioles organization. Hays is another up-and-coming player who is testing the Major League Baseball waters slowly.

Hays has gotten more at-bats every year since 2017 and his numbers were good compared to the rest of the MLB players in 2020 (for the amount of games he played in).

Hays’ played in 33 out of the 60 games in 2020. His batting average was decent as he batted .279 and had 4 homeruns and 9 runs batted in. He’s one of those players that fans were excited to see when he first came up and they still are excited to see what he can do in his future with the O’s.

With Hays playing in the outfield, alongside Anthony Santander and Trey Mancini (if he has recovered fully from his cancer), this could be a great outfield to help get some wins for the O’s. You can have Santander in left or right field, Hays has your center fielder, and then Mancini either in left or right, the opposite of Santander. Great 1-2-3 punch.

Hays bats better when he is facing right-handed pitchers, as he batted .287 against righties and .250 against lefties. These stats are great for Hays as this shows manager Brandon Hyde that he can use Hays in any batting situation. Hyde may have other choices besides Hays, but if Hays is one of the few available, Hyde would feel comfortable giving him the signal to get into the game.

Confidence and trust is key in everything you do and when it comes to sports, there will be different situations that you are going to have to be comfortable being in to get the job done. Hays is one of those players that you can count on and the percentage of Hays completing/executing is higher than most.

In this shortened-season, Hays played his best baseball in August/September as his batting average in those two months was .377. Late in the season is crunch time and the most important throughout the season. Some people may think June-July is crucial, but late August – September is important for ball clubs.

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If you cannot win in August and September, you can kiss your playoff chances goodbye. You want to control your own destiny when it comes to clinching a playoff spot and not have to worry about other teams losing their games.

Hays played in 14 games with 53 at-bats. When the O’s won, he batted .277 and when the O’s lost, he batted .281. Hays felt confident and composed in both wins and losses. His batting averages differ by. 004.

If you compare Hays to other players, this is an eye-catching stat. When Hyde and Mike Elias saw this at the end of the season, this is the statistic that spoke to both of them. Hays is the definition of a steady player. Not too many steady players in the major leagues can put up a statistic like that.

Some players struggle tremendously late in the season because they get burnt out early, but Hays kept improving month after month. The O’s have a good one in Austin Hays.