Austin Hays *, OF, BAL

Austin Hays is on the Baltimore 60-man roster. What does he bring to the squad?

• Born: July 5, 1995
• B/T: Right/Right
• 6’1″, 195-lbs
• Drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 2016 MLB June Amateur Draft from Jacksonville University

The Numbers

His raw numbers are listed above courtesy of baseball-reference.com. Let’s aggregate by year then focus on the important numbers for minor leaguers:

Four things are clear with Hays:

1. He brings big power
2. But he doesn’t strike out too much
3. Yet he doesn’t walk enough
4. Thus his OBP might be sub-par, leading to fewer SBs

He destroyed righties, and lefties destroyed him. Let’s keep an eye on that.

The Scouts

• Rotowire: #89 on their Top 400.
• BaseballHQ: Not on their Top 100.
• Fangraphs: Not on their Top 120.
• ​Fantasy Six Pack: #507 on their dynasty list.
• Prospects365: #100 on Ray Butler’s Top 200.
• Imaginary Brick Wall: #71 on the Top 487.
• Fantrax: #156 on the Top 250.

Warnings

Can he learn to draw more walks? He certainly has the power to get respect from the pitchers.

Conclusion

You see the scouts are mixed. Some see a 20-20 batter, others see an OBP mess.

I think you take the power, and hope it leads to more walks, and more SBs and more value. But it all starts with getting on base.