Hays aims to stay healthy and keep hitting throughout the season

Orioles outfielder Austin Hays takes pride in his ability to field anything that comes his way. Or anyone.

Hays was pouring beers at Crooked Crab Brewing Company in Odenton on Sunday, the Birdland Caravan’s final stop of the weekend, when a woman passed her 5-month-old daughter across the bar. An adorable and safe photo opportunity, with the baby secure in Hays’ hands.

The father of two young sons, Hays joked later that he might need a little girl to complete his family. After all, she did snuggle up against him. He took it as a sign.

In exactly one week, Orioles pitchers and catchers report to spring training in Sarasota and ready for the first workout the following morning. Position players are due the 20^th, but Hays won’t wait that long. He’s driven to give his team a complete season.

Hays avoided the injured list in 2022 but played in pain and delivered two different halves. He batted .270/.325/.454 with 12 home runs and 46 RBIs in the first 85 games and .220/.276/.349 with four homers and 14 RBIs in the last 60.

“I think the biggest difference between the first half and the second half was some mechanical issues, and just being able to identify what those issues were, why I was missing as many pitches as I was in the second half, and then just pressing once I started to miss my pitches to hit,” Hays said. “I started to expand the zone more. So, just continuing to swing at strikes, and having good, clean mechanics should lead to the good first half that I had throughout the course of the season.

“So, the biggest goal this year, once again, is just to be healthy and be on the field every single day, and then I’ll just work as hard as I can in the cage to make sure I have those good, clean mechanics all throughout the season.”

The decline was curious because Hays has become known as a strong finisher. He slashed .285/.352/.569 with eight homers and 22 RBIs in his last 30 games in 2021, and .377/.404/.585 in his last 14 in the truncated 2020 season,

Hays was a September call-up in 2019 and went 21-for-68 (.309) with six doubles, four home runs and .947 OPS in 21 games.

He’s going to examine the good and bad of 2022 and try to identify why it didn’t evolve the way he wanted.

“You look at the positives of it and you see what you were doing that was allowing you to have that success," Hays said, "and then just really hammer that down and make sure the things that you’re doing well show up more than some of the things that lead to not having those good streaks at times.”

Hays made his major league debut on Sept. 7, 2017, a surprise call-up while the Orioles were fighting to stay in playoff contention. They were eliminated by the 23^rd, with their 82^nd loss assuring the first sub-.500 season since 2011.

Once Hays made it back to the club in 2019, the teardown and rebuild were going full throttle.

“We’ve gone through a couple different stages since I’ve been able to come up to the big leagues in ’17,” he said. “It was an All-Star-filled roster, and then a couple years later, it was all the guys that I played with in the minor leagues, and we were all up in the big leagues with not much experience at all. And now you’re starting to see those young guys and the core group that’s been able to stick in the big leagues for a few years be a big core part of this team. And now you’re getting some younger, talented guys and some veteran guys signed in each year.

“We had a lot of success last year, and now we really have something to build off going into this year. We’re expecting to win this year. It’s how we view ourselves.”

The rejuvenation of a franchise that hit bottom is most meaningful to Hays because he’s been part of it since the 2016 draft, chosen in the third round out of Jacksonville University and achieving top prospect status. MLB Pipeline ranked him first in 2018, one spot ahead of Ryan Mountcastle.

“That makes me happy that we’re at a point now where I think this team’s going to be good for a long time because we have depth,” he said. “I’m very happy with where the organization is now. It’s awesome.”

Hays will start in a veteran outfield with Cedric Mullins in center and Anthony Santander in right. Two draft picks and a Rule 5 selection who morphed into leaders on a young and rising club.

They talk about their days coming up in the minors and a dream achieved.

“At one point we were all in Double-A together,” Hays recalled, “and Santander used to always say, ‘This is the future.’ We had a couple times last year where we were all out there together and we’re like, ‘Man, this is what we were talking about back in 2018. It’s four seasons later and here we are together out in the middle of Camden Yards in center field during a pitching change.’

“It’s great. I’ve built really close relationships and I have a lot of friendships with guys I played with in the minor leagues, and now we’re here. It’s awesome.”

Hays finished his photo session with fans and headed back to the bar, where enthusiasm for this team spilled over.

“You guys point the camera over there through that glass, it’s electric,” he said. “People are excited. They love the guys that are on this team now. We have some identities, we have some different things. Fans get behind certain players. You have the Omar whistle behind (Félix) Bautista out there. Those are things that you love as a fan, those are things that make the stadium atmosphere fun.

“It’s just a really exciting time in Baltimore and Birdland.”