Austin Hays 2024

[interloper]

Brief mention during the broadcast of him being in a "boot", which doesn't sound great for a minor calf strain, but maybe it's a normal thing they do. 

[Frobby]

 

[interloper]

Maybe it's just me, but I'm kind of looking forward to Hays being back, whether it's a straight swap of McKenna or at the expense of Kjerstad. I want a steady defense-oriented RH outfielder on this team, and McKenna just isn't good enough. Yeah Hays lacks speed, but he's steady and gets good jumps. He will hit better than he has so far. 

I've been as critical of Hays as the next guy but I think objectively the roster feels a bit wonky without him. Cowser gets pretty exposed facing lefties, Kjerstad is useless on this team right now, and McKenna isn't much more useful either. Hays helps smooth out the rough edges of this 26-man, IMO, even if his playing time is significantly cut. 

I also think a straight CF platoon with Mullins is absolutely in the cards with how terrible Ced has been against LHP this year. 

Edited Tuesday at 14:47 by interloper

[Bemorewins]

7 minutes ago, interloper said:

Maybe it's just me, but I'm kind of looking forward to Hays being back, whether it's a straight swap of McKenna or at the expense of Kjerstad. I want a steady defense-oriented RH outfielder on this team, and McKenna just isn't good enough. Yeah Hays lacks speed, but he's steady and gets good jumps. He will hit better than he has so far. 

I've been as critical of Hays as the next guy but I think objectively the roster feels a bit wonky without him. Cowser gets pretty exposed facing lefties, Kjerstad is useless on this team right now, and McKenna isn't much more useful either. Hays helps smooth out the rough edges of this 26-man, IMO, even if his playing time is significantly cut. 

I also think a straight CF platoon with Mullins is absolutely in the cards with how terrible Ced has been against LHP this year. 

I agree with what you said about Hays. It minimizes Cowser’s exposure/limitations. 

However, I cannot agree with your Cedric Mullins’ take. We don’t have another OF we can cover CF anywhere as well. For whatever we would be loosing in defensive value, the offensive uptick would have to be considerable in order to do that. Mullins is that good in CF IMO.

[interloper]

30 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

I agree with what you said about Hays. It minimizes Cowser’s exposure/limitations. 

However, I cannot agree with your Cedric Mullins’ take. We don’t have another OF we can cover CF anywhere as well. For whatever we would be loosing in defensive value, the offensive uptick would have to be considerable in order to do that. Mullins is that good in CF IMO.

It's a bit of a hot take, admittedly. We'll see. Mullins is having a weird season. He's got 6 bombs and 6 steals, which checks out with peak Mullins, but then he also has sub-.300 OBP and a .709 OPS. He's got a .310 OPS vs LHP. 

So, is he hurting the team by being out there vs LHP, or is his defense making up for it? I'm not really sure which is more true right now. But if the team is looking for ways to get Hays ABs, that's one avenue they could explore. 

[RVAOsFan]

17 minutes ago, interloper said:

It's a bit of a hot take, admittedly. We'll see. Mullins is having a weird season. He's got 6 bombs and 6 steals, which checks out with peak Mullins, but then he also has sub-.300 OBP and a .709 OPS. He's got a .310 OPS vs LHP. 

So, is he hurting the team by being out there vs LHP, or is his defense making up for it? I'm not really sure which is more true right now. But if the team is looking for ways to get Hays ABs, that's one avenue they could explore. 

I like the idea of Mullins getting a little more time off than he has in the past in hopes of keeping him a little more fresh and healthy for late season baseball. 

[maybenxtyr]

6 minutes ago, RVAOsFan said:

I like the idea of Mullins getting a little more time off than he has in the past in hopes of keeping him a little more fresh and healthy for late season baseball. 

That's the only real benefit right there. I don't want to say his defense is underrated or anything, but he's a really good CF'er and they don't really have anyone that can replace him at the moment...at least that hits from the right side.

[wildcard]

Its been 10 days on the IL.   I hope Hays goes on rehab to Norfolk to get his bat going.

[Frobby]

1 minute ago, wildcard said:

It’s been 10 days on the IL.   I hope Hays goes on rehab to Norfolk to get his bat going.

Didn’t sound like he’s resumed baseball activities yet.

[wildcard]

3 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Didn’t sound like he’s resumed baseball activities yet.

I have not heard much about what he is doing or not doing.

[Frobby]

6 minutes ago, wildcard said:

I have not heard much about what he is doing or not doing.

Just scroll back a few entries.  Hyde said on 4/29 that Hays hadn’t done much activity yet.  

[Sports Guy]

He’s probably at least 2 weeks away. They will get a rehab assignment out of him.

[Moose Milligan]

No rush, really.  

[Sports Guy]

2 minutes ago, Moose Milligan said:

No rush, really.  

Well it would be nice to have another righty bat.

Now, we need that bat to be productive, which has obviously been an issue this year but overall, it would be nice to get him going.

[Moose Milligan]

1 minute ago, Sports Guy said:

Well it would be nice to have another righty bat.

Now, we need that bat to be productive, which has obviously been an issue this year but overall, it would be nice to get him going.

Yeah, if we can ride his yearly month-long hot streak that'd be nice.