Hays making run for roster spot on healthy ankle

SARASOTA, Fla. - Outfielders Yusniel Díaz and DJ Stewart, third baseman Ryan Mountcastle and infielder Jack Reinheimer have reported early to camp.

Among position players still marked absent are infielders Jonathan Villar, Steve Wilkerson and Hanser Alberto and outfielder Eric Young Jr. They aren't required to be at the ballpark until Monday's full-squad workout.

Outfielder Austin Hays arrived yesterday and took batting practice on the stadium field. His surgically repaired left ankle passed its final test.

"I did some baserunning stuff," he said. "I ran with the cleats on. I hit the bag. Rounded the bag. Went first to third with a secondary (lead). That was the last test for us as far as anything we can do without playing games."

Hays won't concede that the exhibition schedule, whatever portion he's involved in, will be followed by a reassignment to minor league camp. Doesn't matter that he underwent a procedure in September to repair a fracture or that was limited to 75 games last season, including 66 at Double-A Bowie, and came off the Arizona Fall League roster.

The Orioles don't have anyone penciled into right field, and he's going to be in the thick of the competition. That's the mindset he brought to Sarasota.

"I'm on the 40-man," he said. "I'm here to do my best and try to win a job. That's what we're all here to do. There's going to be opportunities. We've just got to take advantage of them where we get them."

Stewart and Joey Rickard likely slot ahead of Hays in the early days of spring training, and the Orioles signed Young to a minor league deal earlier this week. The Orioles will carry a fourth outfielder and also a utility infielder - perhaps someone capable of playing the outfield.

Hays was the organization's Minor League Player of the Year in 2017, making his fall last summer harder and more painful.

"I didn't have to deal with any injuries," Hays said, "I didn't have any skids, I have moved up two, three levels. I hadn't gone down a level. So I'd say that was definitely different than the year prior.

"It was a very big learning experience. I had never had surgery. I never had gone through a skid like I went through last year. I'd never gone through a real rehab either. It was a big learning experience going through those things. Staying positive through all those things I learned a lot about myself and my character - just how to deal with things that aren't going my way."

The incremental steps on a sore ankle wore down Hays, who made his major league debut in 2017 but slashed .242/.271/.432 last summer.

"It was very difficult because there was never a set timeline," he said. "It was, 'Let's give it a month and see how it reacts to this.' Because we had tried different things. So it was very frustrating because I would wear the boot for a month and then I'd come out of it and I'd go to run, hoping it would feel better, and then realizing I was right back in the same spot I was a month before that.

"It was difficult to stay positive and keep a good mindset throughout, but I'm just glad I have peace of mind now, knowing that everything that was in there causing everything is fixed."

Hays altered his workouts in the offseason beyond compensating for the ankle. He bulked up last year to the detriment of his body mechanics, as pointed out by various members of the organization.

"Yeah, a big focus for me since I was in college or even in high school, I always had a smaller body frame, so I'd work really hard to get bigger, get stronger, gain weight, and finally I actually started doing those things instead of just strength," Hays said.

"I started to gain a lot of weight and I was a lot heavier than I had been last year. So I was tighter, I couldn't move around the same way. I think that might have had something to do with the overall health last year. Maybe I was just bigger and my body wasn't used to certain things, but I dieted a little bit better this year, just to try to stay lighter and be at the weight that I usually played at."

Hays also had to learn how to run again. The proper technique that had been lost. That used to come naturally.

"I just had noticed that I started running differently because my ankle started to hurt, so I built up some bad habits. So when I first started coming back, I was running with the weight on the inside part of my foot differently than I had usually run," Hays said. "I had to reinforce where my foot should be hitting the ground and where the weight should be."

He's hit the ground running in camp, with no more restrictions and renewed confidence that he can vie for a spot on the opening day roster.