In 63 plate appearances with a September call-up in 2017 with the Orioles, outfielder Austin Hays hit .217. In 75 plate appearances last September, he hit .309. But just beyond those numbers, Hays showed some real five-tool talent in his 21-game run last September.

Hays hit for average and some power. He drove balls in the gaps. He ran down balls in the gaps and made diving catches. He showed a strong throwing arm. He stole bases. He brought some real energy to the team.

During the Winter Meetings, O’s manager Brandon Hyde remarked that the Orioles will miss some of the energy that infielder Jonathan Villar brought to the team. But he quickly mentioned Hays as someone who can do that for the club in 2020.

Hays played with a reckless abandon and looked to be in attack mode in his second stint in the majors.

In 2017, Hays had a huge year in the minors, hitting 32 homers with 95 RBIs and a .958 OPS. He was a finalist with players like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Ronald Acuña Jr. for Baseball America’s national Player of the Year. Acuña was the winner.

But Hays did struggle that September after being called up to the big club. This past year, when he was hurt twice and produced much more modest minor league stats, he had a breakout performance for the Orioles. In 75 plate appearances over 21 games, he hit .309/.373/.574 with six doubles, four homers and 13 RBIs. He recorded two steals and a .947 OPS.

The Orioles called up Hays on Sept. 7 after a season in which he was limited to 87 games by two separate injuries. In the spring, he dislocated his left thumb. During the season, he suffered a right hamstring sprain. On the farm in 2019 he batted .248/.299/.464.

But the tools and talent were there for all to see, albeit in a small sample size, last September.

Hyde threw a bunch of props his way late in the season.

“He’s done a great job,” Hyde said during the final week of the year. “We’ve talked about that you don’t want to put too much stock in September and spring training. But he’s shown us that he can play center field defense. And really like his at-bats - really competitive every at-bat and hitting the ball from line to line. Like the plate discipline that I didn’t see in spring training. He’s laying off some tough pitches, which is great to see. Making a really strong case that he can play here.”

Hays had a stunning game on Monday, Sept. 23 at Rogers Centre in Toronto. In a game the Orioles would eventually lose 11-10 in 15 innings, Hays made several strong plays on defense and hit two homers as the team dug out of an early 5-0 hole.

According to STATS, Hays became the first major league rookie to have five or more RBIs, a stolen base and an outfield assist in the same game since RBIs became an official statistic in 1920.

During that series in Toronto, Hays showed his smarts too. Smarts about his own game. He knows he’s an aggressive hitter and doesn’t produce a lot of walks. He doesn’t want to necessarily learn to take more pitches, but he told me he needs to become more selective early in the count. Not expand the zone, and if he’s hacking, make sure it’s at a real hittable pitch.

“Yeah, definitely,” he said. “That is why I think it’s trying to have a 2-0 mindset more often. Only swinging at pitches that you can hit hard early in the count. Just kind of a simple way to put it. You’re ready to swing every pitch, but only at one you can really drive. Then if you get to two strikes, you’re just battling to put the ball in play. But just trying to shrink my zone to a little bit smaller area where I can drive the ball earlier in the count. So I’m aggressive, but to a smaller window of pitches, so to speak.”

Hays should open the 2020 season as the O’s center fielder. If he continues to combine tools, talent and smarts as he did late last year, he may be there for a long time.

Note from Steve: Starting tomorrow, I’ll be off for a few days leading up to Christmas. It will be a little strange but there won’t be a new entry here for a few days. But I’ll be back real soon. In the meantime feel free to keep making comments on this entry while we wait for a new one. Hope everyone has a special holiday season.