Stay Or Go- Will Austin Hays Be Back With The Phillies in 2025?
The Phillies season is over. After finishing with the 2nd best record in baseball, they were the first of the teams who earned the bye week to be sent home. The Mets ran right over them, the way the Phillies had run over the Braves the past two years. Guys like Austin Hays, Johan Rojas, Alec Bohm, Brandon Marsh, JT Realmuto, Trea Turner, and Kyle Schwarber, were mostly no-shows. The bullpen imploded. And now it is over.
It leaves the question of what they do next. Do they blow it up? Will this roster be shaken up after yet another playoff choke?
We are going to run through some of the names on this roster whose future here looks murky. Leaving out the names that will obviously stay like Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, and others who are locked up long-term
We have already looked at a few names, but now let’s look at the most recent addition to the Phillies roster, and if they will bring him back after a disappointing performance after the trade. Austin Hays.
Related: Stay or Go- Is Alec Bohm Still the Phillies Future at 3rd?
Related: Stay Or Go: Will Johan Rojas Roam CF For Phillies In 2025?
Related: Stay Or Go: Will Brandon Marsh Be Back In 2025?
Hard To Blame Austin Hays For His Poor Performance Here
When the Phillies traded for Hays, the plan was for him to be the everyday Left Fielder, and for Marsh and Rojas to platoon in Centerfield. That plan barely had the chance to come to fruition.
He hurt his hamstring 10 games after the Phillies acquired him. That kept him out for 16 days. He returned on 8/26, but then after playing on 9/1, he was out again, this time with a Kidney Infection. That kept him out until 9/24. When he did come back, he played 3 more regular season games, and he had just 4 at-bats in the playoffs. None of which were effective. He wound up hitting .256/.275/.397/.672 in his time here.
Hays was not good, but he never had the chance to be. It is hard to blame him too much for how poorly he played after returning from the kidney infection because that illness really took its toll on him. They said he lost a ton of weight. He only had 10 healthy games here, and that is way too small of a sample size
What would he have looked like here if he stayed healthy? If he had a full chance to acclimate to the new team maybe he would have been playing every day in left Field. But it is impossible to know, which makes it really hard to judge him.
He had no impact here, and many might just want to move on, but he did have decent numbers from 2021-2023. The reasons they acquired him are still there. But will they ever get that guy?
Not Much to Gain By Moving On
Austin Hays is going into his last year of arbitration. He is estimated to make a bit over $6 million. You won’t get much back at this point by moving him again. So why would they move on?
Should they trust him to be the guy in the outfield? Certainly not. They need to go out and get a real everyday outfielder. It can’t be another year of mixing and matching in the outfield. Outside of Castellanos, that was a clear weakness in their lineup. Putting your hopes to bounce back on Hays would be a massive mistake.
But at that cost, why not keep him around to be a bench guy? It is what he was doing in Baltimore anyway. At least before the season, there is no upside to moving on. Don’t count on him being a contributor, but bring him back and see what he has to offer.
If someone does offer you something, then sure, trade him. But for now, I don’t see a reason to move on just for the sake of it. He has been a quality MLB bat in the past. His problem here was that he was hurt, and then had a serious medical incident.
Verdict: Stay, As Backup For Now