Austin Slater


Austin Thomas Slater is an American professional baseball outfielder for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball. He was drafted by the Giants in the eighth round of the 2014 MLB draft. He made his MLB debut in 2017.

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. He was drafted as a shortstop by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 44th round of the 2011 Major League Baseball draft.
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. 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. 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.

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. 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. 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.
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. 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. 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. 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. In 2018 with the Giants he batted.251/.333/.307 with one home run and 23 RBIs in at 199 bats.
He played part of 2019 with Sacramento again, batting.308/.436/.529 with 12 home runs and 45 RBIs in 240 at bats. 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.

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.