BIOGRAPHY
Austin Hays was born July 5, 1995, in Daytona Beach, Florida. He is a right fielder in the MLB.
Hays attended Spruce Creek High School in Port Orange, Florida. He attended Seminole State College of Florida, where he played college baseball for the Seminole State Raiders and transferred to Jacksonville University, where he continued his college baseball career with the Jacksonville Dolphins.
The Baltimore Orioles selected Hays in the third round of the 2016 Major League Baseball draft. Hays signed and made his professional debut with the Aberdeen Ironbirds of the Class A-Short Season New York-Penn League where he batted .336 with four home runs and 21 RBIs in 38 games. He started the 2017 season with the Frederick Keys of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League. On May 26, 2017, he became the first player in Frederick's history to hit three home runs in one game. He received a promotion to the Bowie Baysox of the Class AA Eastern League in June 2017. In 128 games between Frederick and Bowie, he slashed .329/.365/.593 with 32 home runs and 95 RBIs.
The Orioles promoted Hays to the major leagues on September 5, 2017, making him the first 2016 draftee to reach the major leagues. He made his major league debut on September 7, 2017. He had his first MLB hit, followed by his first MLB home run, in a 9–3 loss against the New York Yankees on September 16. In 20 games for Baltimore during the 2017 season, he batted .217/.238/.317 in 60 at-bats. He began 2018 with Bowie.
In 2020 for the Orioles, Hays slashed .279/.328/.393 with four home runs and nine RBIs; in 2021, he appeared in 131 games with Baltimore, batting .256 with 22 home runs and 71 RBIs.
Hays returned to the Orioles for the 2022 season. On June 22, he hit for the cycle in a game against the Washington Nationals.
On January 13, 2023, Hays agreed to a one-year, $3.2 million contract with the Orioles, avoiding salary arbitration.
