Austin Slater

Austin Thomas Slater (born December 13, 1992) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball at Stanford University. He was drafted by the Giants in the eighth round of the 2014 MLB draft. He made his MLB debut in 2017.

Austin Slater
Slater with the Giants in 2019
San Francisco Giants – No. 13
Outfielder
Born: (1992-12-13) December 13, 1992
Jacksonville, Florida
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
June 2, 2017, for the San Francisco Giants
MLB statistics
(through 2020 season)
Batting average.258
Home runs14
Runs batted in67
Teams

Career

Amateur career

Slater attended The Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida. He broke his ankle while playing frisbee, and did not play his senior year.[1] He was drafted as a shortstop by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 44th round of the 2011 Major League Baseball draft.[1]

He did not sign and played college baseball at Stanford University, batting .310 with five home runs and 72 RBIs in 113 career games during three seasons.[1] He played for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks of the Cape Cod Baseball League in the summers of 2013 and 2014, and was named a league all-star in 2013.[2][3] After his junior year, he was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the eighth round of the 2014 MLB draft, and signed for a $200,000 signing bonus.[4][5]

Draft and minor leagues

Slater made his professional debut in 2014 with the Arizona League Giants and was promoted to the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes after two games.[6] In 31 games between both teams, he batted .346 with two home runs and 25 RBIs. He was moved from outfield to second base in 2015.[7] He spent 2015 with the San Jose Giants and Richmond Flying Squirrels where he posted a .294 batting average with three home runs and 47 RBIs in 114 games between both teams. After the season, the Giants assigned him to the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League (AFL).

Slater was moved back to the outfield in 2016 and started the year back with Richmond, and was later promoted to the Sacramento River Cats. In 109 games between both teams, he posted a combined .305 batting average with 18 home runs and 67 RBIs.[8] Slater played for the Scorpions of the AFL after the regular season. He began 2017 with Sacramento.

San Francisco Giants

On June 2, 2017, the Giants promoted Slater to the major leagues.[9] He made his debut later that night, starting at right field against the Philadelphia Phillies. Slater recorded his first career hit and RBI in the sixth inning in the same game.[10] He spent the remainder of the season with the Giants after his promotion, batting .282/.339/.402 with three home runs and 16 RBIs in 34 games.

He began 2018 with Sacramento, with whom he batted .344/.417/.564 with five home runs and 32 RBIs in 195 at bats.[11] In 2018 with the Giants he batted .251/.333/.307 with one home run and 23 RBIs in at 199 bats.[11]

He played part of 2019 with Sacramento again, batting .308/.436/.529 with 12 home runs and 45 RBIs in 240 at bats.[11] In 2019 with the Giants, playing primarily right field he batted .238/.333/.417 with five home runs and 21 RBIs in 168 at bats.[11]

Personal life

Slater was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida. He was named after his grandfather, Ed Austin, who was Mayor of Jacksonville from 1991–95.[12]

References
  1. Hood, Ryan. "Stanford outfielder Austin Slater drafted by Giants". MLB.com. Retrieved 2019-11-20.
  2. "#17 Austin Slater - Profile". pointstreak.com. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  3. "Austin Slater - Profile". pointstreak.com. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  4. Stanford outfielder Slater drafted by Giants
  5. "Austin Slater". The Baseball Cube. 2014-07-24. Retrieved 2019-11-20.
  6. "Giants notebook: Two draftees from Stanford epitomize the off-the-field smarts of San Francisco's top prospects – The Mercury News". Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  7. "New Squirrel Slater positioning himself for advancement". Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  8. "Austin Slater Stats, Highlights, Bio - MiLB.com Stats - The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com. Retrieved November 19, 2016.
  9. Harris, Ben. "Giants tap youngster Slater to boost offense". MLB.com. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
  10. Zolecki, Todd; Harris, Ben. "Blach shuts out Phillies; Span has 5 hits". MLB.com. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
  11. "Austin Slater College, Minor, Fall & Winter Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  12. Frenette, Gene (Jul 8, 2017). "Can Bolles' Austin Slater finally be the long-term replacement for Barry Bonds in San Francisco's outfield?". The Florida Times-Union.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.