Hays passes a couple of tests while trying to win roster spot

SARASOTA, Fla. - Austin Hays got an immediate return Sunday on his offseason workouts during two at-bats against the Blue Jays at Ed Smith Stadium.

Hays fell behind 1-2 and poked an RBI single into right field, and he scored from first base on Carlos Pérez's two-run double into left-center.

The single illustrated how he made adjustments to this approach at the plate in order to give himself a chance when down in the count. Making it around the bases on Pérez's double, which gave the Orioles a 6-5 lead, showed that his surgically repaired right ankle is healed and he has no restrictions.

Two wins for Hays in a game where the Orioles held onto the lead, which actually makes it three.

The opposite-field hit "was very important," Hays said.

"I did a lot of work on my two-strike approach this offseason and during this camp so far and it was very good to see all the work I've been putting in showed," said Hays, 23, a third-round pick in the 2016 draft out of Jacksonville University.

"The ability to drive the ball the other way with two strikes. Let the ball get deeper, try to stay in the zone, especially with runners in scoring position.

"Try to let the ball travel, shorten the swing up, just give myself more time to see it and more time to see if it's a ball or strike and what type pitch it is. That way I can put a good, short swing on it."

The power is there for Hays. He's a more complete hitter, certainly a more dangerous one, when taking aim at the other side.

Hays, ranked fourth among Orioles prospects by MLBPipeline.com, underwent a procedure in September to repair a fracture in the ankle - involving two bone grafts and the insertion of two screws - that prevented him from playing in the Arizona Fall League. He sustained a shoulder injury in camp last spring and the ankle flared up later, holding him to 66 games at Double-A Bowie.

Upon arriving at the complex earlier this month, Hays tested the ankle by running the bases in his spikes, hitting and rounding the bag without any discomfort or interruptions in his stride. He went first to third with a secondary lead. The "last test," as he put it, before the exhibition games.

Hays tore around the bases Sunday and scored the go-ahead run.

"I think I was more proud about being able to go first to home, slide in, get up and go back out to the outfield and come in and not feel anything in my ankle whatsoever," Hays said. "It didn't get tight on me. I didn't have any false steps, I stayed on my toes the whole time, rounded the bag. Everything was really good, felt good, so that was kind of the last step, which was being able to push it in a game and see how it reacted.

"It feels really good today. It wasn't sore yesterday, so I'm there."

And back in center field today, the same position he played Sunday. He's leading off against the Rays.

"I've been shagging balls everywhere just in case," he said. "I'll be ready for wherever they want to put me, wherever they need me. I've been doing work in all three spots."

Hays made 19 starts in right field and seven in center with the Orioles in 2017, after they chose him as their Minor League Player of the Year. He's made 104 starts in center, 92 in right and 15 in left in the minors.

"I'd say I'm more comfortable in center and right because I played more games there," he said. "Those two spots, I probably played just about an equal amount, so I'm really comfortable in those two. Left field, I need more work, but I think that just comes with reps."

One corner spot isn't like the other, as so many outfielders have learned over the years.

"The shapes of the field are different in left and right, foul lines, distance from the fence to the foul lines, how it comes off the bat," Hays said. "There's a lot of stuff that is different than what you think but at the end of the day, just got to go catch a fly ball and keep it simple."