Baltimore Orioles Opening Day Roster Without Austin Hays Is a Mistake
By Steve Rudden
The Baltimore Orioles Opening Day 2018 will be without rising star Austin Hays, after being optioned to Double-A Bowie on Saturday.
In a surprising turn of Baltimore Orioles events, Austin Hays was optioned to the minor leagues very close to the start of Opening Day. To me, that was a huge mistake. You want to play your best players no matter how much experience they have.
Hays would benefit from playing every day for the Orioles while making the Opening Day roster. He’s one of the young core of players that will help.
You can’t judge a player on 20 MLB games, but having regular playing time will help Austin Hays tremendously. You saw that with Nick Markakis in 2006. He was on the Orioles Opening Day roster and established himself as an everyday player.
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How much confidence has Austin Hays lost now that he isn’t on the Opening Day roster? He won’t be in Double-A very long, but it would’ve been nice to see him make the team. Especially right out of spring training.
Sometimes you have to have a mix of veterans and young players on your team to be successful. The Orioles could have that with Hays, Trey Mancini, Dylan Bundy, and Chance Sisco all on the roster at the same time.
Austin Hays should be called up by Mid-April so us fans can see how high he will be. He’s got what it takes to be a Orioles player for the rest of his career.
Buck Showalter takes pride in defense. I’m sure Hays has been working on his defensive skills to limit the number of mistakes he makes on the field.
Next: 5 Bold Predictions for the Orioles 2018 Season
It’s going to be a special day when Austin Hays is showcasing his talent around the Orioles for years to come. No matter if the O’s lose Machado and Jones in the offseason, they won’t need to rebuild for long.