Austin Slater

Austin Slater

31-Year-Old OutfielderOF
 Free Agent  
Free Agent
2024 Fantasy Outlook
Slater was limited to just 90 plate appearances in the first half last season due to a pair of hamstring injuries. He later had arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow just after the season to remove a bone spur which apparently had been an issue for a couple years. In between the injuries and surgery Slater was his usual productive self against left-handed pitching, slashing .288/.361/.439 with four homers in 147 plate appearances. He started just seven games versus righties and collected a .619 OPS. Slater's role as short-side platoon specialist is very defined at this point and it's unlikely to change under new manager Bob Melvin. The 31-year-old is good enough at the role to have some deep-league fantasy value, but he's simply not going to play enough to be useful in shallower leagues. Read Past Outlooks
RANKS
Rest of Season
From Preseason
#362
ADP
$Signed a one-year, $4 million contract with the Giants in November of 2023. Traded to the Reds in July of 2024. Traded to the Orioles in July of 2024.
Not in lineup versus lefty
OFBaltimore Orioles  
October 1, 2024
Slater is absent from the lineup Tuesday in Game 1 of the American League Wild Card Series against the Royals, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.
ANALYSIS
Slater was in the lineup more often than not versus lefties down the stretch for the Orioles, but he will begin Tuesday's contest on the bench against southpaw Cole Ragans. Ragans does have reverse splits, with lefties producing a .723 OPS off him this season and righties just a .594 OPS. Colton Cowser, Cedric Mullins and Anthony Santander will form Baltimore's outfield trio Tuesday.
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Batting Stats
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2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2024 MLB Game Log
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2023 MLB Game Log
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2022 MLB Game Log
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2021 MLB Game Log
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2020 MLB Game Log
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
1
4
1
2
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
27
5
6
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+8%
OPS vs LHP
2024
 
 
+25%
OPS vs RHP
2023
 
 
+29%
OPS vs LHP
2022
 
 
+16%
OPS vs LHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022vs Left .734 471 64 9 44 12 .255 .352 .381
Since 2022vs Right .681 273 33 5 28 5 .243 .341 .340
2024vs Left .541 142 14 1 11 3 .188 .310 .231
2024vs Right .676 70 10 1 7 0 .250 .343 .333
2023vs Left .800 147 18 4 15 2 .288 .361 .439
2023vs Right .619 60 6 1 5 0 .226 .317 .302
2022vs Left .824 182 32 4 18 7 .277 .379 .445
2022vs Right .710 143 17 3 16 5 .246 .350 .361
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+5%
OPS at Home
2024
Even Split
2023
 
 
+52%
OPS at Home
2022
 
 
+18%
OPS on Road
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022Home .733 374 51 7 37 8 .260 .356 .378
Since 2022Away .695 370 46 7 35 9 .241 .341 .354
2024Home .587 99 10 1 11 3 .214 .313 .274
2024Away .585 113 14 1 7 0 .204 .327 .258
2023Home .906 105 15 3 12 1 .318 .429 .477
2023Away .595 102 9 2 8 1 .227 .265 .330
2022Home .713 170 26 3 14 4 .252 .335 .377
2022Away .844 155 23 4 20 8 .278 .400 .444
More Splits View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does Austin Slater compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.43
 
BB Rate
12.3%
 
K Rate
28.3%
 
BABIP
.294
 
ISO
.056
 
AVG
.209
 
OBP
.321
 
SLG
.266
 
OPS
.586
 
wOBA
.276
 
Exit Velocity
88.2 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
30.3%
 
Barrels/PA
1.9%
 
Expected BA
.231
 
Expected SLG
.322
 
Sprint Speed
24.6 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
50.4%
 
Line Drive %
28.2%
 
Fly Ball %
21.4%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
Games By Position
Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Austin Slater See More
Weekly Hitter Rankings: The Playoff Push
55 days ago
Shohei Ohtani and the Dodgers are one of 14 teams with a seven-game schedule from September 16-22. Todd Zola highlights the matchups and unveils his weekly hitter rankings.
Weekly Hitter Rankings: Scoring is Way Down
62 days ago
The Cleveland Guardians are one of six teams with seven games the week of September 9 to September 15. See how they and the rest of the MLB rank in Todd Zola's weekly hitter rankings.
Lineup Lowdown: American League
66 days ago
Parker Meadows has locked down the Tigers' leadoff spot against righties and has started making contact at a high clip for the first time in his career.
Weekly Hitter Rankings: Raise the Jolly Roger
69 days ago
Bryan Reynolds and the Pirates top Todd Zola’s hitter rankings for the week of September 2 to September 8.
Weekly Hitter Rankings: Playing for Both Sides
76 days ago
Bobby Witt and the Royals play eight games the week of August 26 to September 1, making them a top team in Todd Zola's weekly hitter rankings.
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
Slater filled his usual platoon against southpaw role, but improved numbers against righthanders fueled a career-high number of plate appearances, albeit in fewer games than 2021 since Slater incurred a couple of shirt IL stints. His power dropped, commensurate with the hitting environment, but the rest of Slater's underlying metrics carried over from the prior season. With Mitch Haniger signed as a free agent, Slater is again destined for short side of the platoon work, spelling Joc Pederson and sometimes Mike Yastrzemski along with some time at designated hitter. Slater's ability to collect double-digit steals in a part-time capacity has some mixed league appeal, but more on a fill in basis when it is clear he'll be on the field frequently during that transaction period.
Slater helped propel the Giants to the playoff by filling the short side a platoon in the outfield. His double-digit home runs and stolen bases make it seems like he could benefit from more playing time. The deal is that an extreme platoon split will limit his upside. In his career (843 PA), he's struggled against righties (.633 OPS, .853 OPS against lefties). Those struggles didn't end in 2021 with a .894 OPS vs. LHP and just a .497 vs. RHP. Nothing in his profile points to his struggles against lefties going away. His fantasy value comes down to the league type. If the league allows daily moves, he can be started when there is a lefty on the mound, and benched the rest of the time. In a weekly league, he's waiver wire fodder, appealing primarily in those one or two weeks when the Giants are facing five or more lefties. Don't get sucked into doubling his 2021 season.
Groin and elbow issues limited Slater to just 31 games last season, but he was impressive when available, hitting .282/.408/.506 with five homers and eight steals. That's quite a big change from what the 28-year-old showed in his first three partial seasons, when he posted a .254/.335/.368 line in 176 contests, looking firmly like a fourth outfielder. His improvements may have come in a small sample, but they were backed up by strong peripherals, with his .305 xBA and .542 xSLG suggesting he may have even underachieved. His 14.1% barrel rate, 15.4 BB% and 21.2 K% were all career bests. A return to previous form wouldn't be a huge surprise given how brief his breakout was, but if he keeps making considerably more contact that he had in the past while hitting the ball harder than ever, he'll remain a capable everyday starter at minimum and a potential draft-day bargain.
Slater split time between the minor leagues -- where he hit .308 in 240 at-bats -- and the majors last season. With the Giants, he posted a .238 average and a modest five home runs in 192 plate appearances. Nonetheless, Slater showed some signs of being a capable big-league hitter. Most notably, his 11.5 BB% was well above league average, and his 45.0% hard-hit rate was a sizable jump over his previous two stints in the majors. Of course, hitting the ball hard is only relevant if a player is able to put the ball in play, and that has been a struggle for Slater throughout his time with San Francisco. He posted a 30.7 K% for the second consecutive season in 2019, dampening much of the progress he made at the plate. Slater's defensive versatility is an asset, but given his penchant for striking out and less-than-stellar production through 176 career big-league games, a roster spot for 2020 is not guaranteed.
Slater's sophomore season was largely a forgettable one, as he managed a mediocre.251/.333/.307 line in 74 big-league appearances. His strikeout rate jumped nearly eight percentage points to 30.7%, while his slugging percentage fell by 95 points. It took a .377 BABIP to get him up to his unimpressive batting line, which doesn't bode well for a player who is limited to first base and the outfield corners, defensively. Those who want to hold out optimism for the 26-year-old's future can point to his .319/.391/.513 line over parts of three seasons with Triple-A Sacramento, but he just hasn't been able to maintain anything close to that level of performance against big-league pitching. The rebuilding Giants should have plenty of playing time for players like Slater, so he'll likely be given another chance to prove himself at some point.
Slater didn't make a ton of noise in his 34-game debut, but he was perfectly adequate at the dish. After getting the callup on June 2, he hit .282 with a league-average 100 wRC+ in 127 plate appearances. A torn adductor muscle in his right hip cost Slater most of the second half. He returned late in September, but only made five appearances before landing back on the shelf with a sports hernia, which required surgery. Slater's control of the strike zone is a little shaky (22.8 percent strikeout rate last year, 6.3 percent walk rate), and his home park mitigates what power he has, but he's just 25 and should at least be afforded chances against lefties to begin 2018. He can play all three outfield positions and can even man the infield in a pinch. As a reserve in NL-only, Slater makes some sense, but he will need to show more and work himself in to a bigger role before he pops up on the mixed-league radar.
More Fantasy News
Plates three in blowout
OFBaltimore Orioles  
September 2, 2024
Slater went 3-for-4 with an RBI double, a two-RBI single and two runs scored during Monday's 13-3 win over the White Sox.
ANALYSIS
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Homers Wednesday
OFBaltimore Orioles  
August 21, 2024
Slater went 1-for-3 with a two-run homer in Wednesday's 4-3 loss to the Mets.
ANALYSIS
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Logs first steal with new team
OFBaltimore Orioles  
August 18, 2024
Slater recorded a stolen base as a pinch runner in Sunday's 4-2 win over the Red Sox.
ANALYSIS
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Dealt to O's
OFBaltimore Orioles  
July 30, 2024
The Orioles acquired Slater and infielder Livan Soto from the Reds on Tuesday in exchange for cash, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Starts against lefty
OFCincinnati Reds  
July 20, 2024
Slater started in left field and went 1-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored in Friday's 8-5 loss to the Nationals.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Unlikely to re-sign
OFBaltimore Orioles  
October 31, 2024
The Orioles aren't expected to make a serious effort to re-sign Slater in free agency, per Jacob Calvin Meyer of The Baltimore Sun.
ANALYSIS
The 31-year-old saw action with three teams during the 2024 regular season and had a .209/.321/.266 slash line with just two homers in 212 plate appearances. The Orioles are looking for a right-handed outfield bat in free agency, but bringing back Slater is a move that wouldn't significantly move the needle.
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