It’s been a whirlwind couple of seasons, but outfielder Austin Hays is finding solid footing once again — this time with the Cincinnati Reds. After missing the first 16 games due to a calf strain, he’s provided a jolt to the Reds offense, hitting .361 with three home runs, nine runs batted in and a stolen base over nine games.
In his debut with the team on April 15, he went 2-for-4 with four RBIs, including a three-run home run against former Reds pitcher Luis Castillo during a four-run fifth inning that propelled Cincinnati to an 8-4 come-from-behind win.
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Hays picked up where he left off in spring training, where he finished with a .310 batting average to go along with three home runs and a team-leading 14 RBIs over 16 games.
“It doesn’t always work that quickly when a guy comes back, but I think we just missed him,” Reds manager Terry Francona said following Hays’ debut.
Austin Hays is hitting .400 in his first 6 games as a Red!@TheAustinHaysss pic.twitter.com/NjcHAWOZfl
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) April 20, 2025
Hays was the only player the Reds added via free agency this past offseason when he signed a one-year contract for $5 million. He not only provides an extra source of power and production in the lineup, but at 29 years old and in his eighth season as a big leaguer, he provides a steady veteran presence for a young, energetic roster hungry to make it back to the postseason.
But Hays’ journey to Cincinnati has been anything but linear.
In 2023, he was named to the American League All-Star team as a member of the Baltimore Orioles, ultimately slashing .275/.325/.444 with 16 home runs and 67 runs batted in. He not only brought consistent offense but shined defensively as well, recording six defensive runs saved in left field — good for fourth among all AL outfielders.
But the Orioles dealt Hays to the Philadelphia Phillies at the 2024 trade deadline, aiming to bolster their roster with pitching. Hays, meanwhile, was brought in to help the Phillies counter left-handed pitching, and he delivered when healthy — batting .328 with an .894 OPS against southpaws.
Yet a tough stretch of injuries, including a hamstring strain and what he described as a “mysterious” kidney infection, limited him to just 22 games in Philadelphia, where he hit .256 with two home runs and six RBIs. Members of the Phillies organization praised him for battling through the infection.
Through the ups and downs of baseball, Hays has said his peace comes from his faith in God, which really started to blossom when he and his wife, Samantha, became Christians in 2020.
“During the 2020 season, we were here at our home and just felt like something was missing,” he said on the Sports Spectrum Podcast in March 2024. “We had just completed the first full season in the big leagues, felt like we were finally established, have everything you could want materialistically, and we just didn’t feel whole.”
They attended a Pro Athletes Outreach event in 2020, heard the Gospel and were saved.
“Couldn’t really describe what that feeling was like and the connection Sam and I had together,” he said. “We were looking at each other and asking, ‘Is this real? Are we both feeling this right now?’ We finished the three days there and just really felt like we were completed and we were whole and we had accepted Jesus into our lives.”
Wanting to make sure they weren’t just riding the high of the event, they got plugged in with a church near their home in Florida and continued to grow in their faith. Eventually, he and Samantha were baptized together.
“It’s been a great three years since that day,” he said in 2024. “We’ve grown a lot in our faith and continue to grow every day.”
Now, Hays hopes his play on the field can reflect the peace he’s found through a relationship with God.
“I can take everything that comes with baseball, I can take it to God,” he said. “I don’t have to do it myself. I don’t have to manage it myself and feel like I have to be in control of everything because, ultimately, baseball is a very difficult sport.”
“I can take everything that comes with baseball, I can take it to God.”
Today on the pod @TheAustinHaysss shares about his new journey with Christ, making his MLB debut against the Yankees, the '23 AL All-Star team & his love for playing at Camden Yards.https://t.co/24zNVx99gv pic.twitter.com/kOqvChozt7
— Sports Spectrum (@Sports_Spectrum) March 7, 2024
He noted how much failure is a part of the game of baseball, even for the best players. A career .263 hitter, he fails nearly 75% of the time, which would be unacceptable in most lines of work. But with baseball, it’s all about perspective.
“With that much failure, I can’t go at it alone,” he said on the podcast. “I can’t go at it by myself. You’re not equipped to do that as an individual. To be able to take it all to Christ and say, ‘I don’t want to do this alone and I don’t want to have to go about it by myself. I want to glorify You in everything that I do on the field.’
“Whether I play good or play bad, I’m alive in Christ and my identity is known from within. It’s known in front of the Lord that I’m living my life the way I was intended to no matter how my game is going on the field that day.”
Hays and the Reds (12-13) are off Thursday before starting a three-game series in Colorado on Friday.
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