Outfield depth for the depleted roster!
The last two days saw the Cincinnati Reds place Jake Fraley on the Family Emergency List and Nick Martini on the 10-day Injured List, the latter likely out for some time after injuring a thumb sliding in to 2B. With TJ Friedl already on the shelf (again) with a hamstring injury and Stuart Fairchild dealing with a sore back, the team’s perilously thin outfield depth had already been threadbare, and the Reds made a move late Sunday evening to help address the issue.
Cincinnati shipped LHP Alex Young to the San Francisco Giants in order to acquire OF Austin Slater, the 31 year old veteran having spent parts of 8 different seasons on the Giants active roster.
The #Reds have acquired OF Austin Slater and cash considerations from the Giants in exchange for LHP Alex Young. pic.twitter.com/ljL3S57L7F
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) July 8, 2024
Slater is making $4 million this year in his final year of arbitration eligibility, and the Giants kicked in some cash to offset said salary while taking on the remainder of the $1.16 million that was owed to Young this year.
Slater got off to a somewhat slow start to his Giants career, but in 374 games between 2019 and the end of 2023 he posted a solid 115 OPS+ in 942 PA. Much of that can be attributed to the Giants ability to use him as one of the most true platoon bats in the game, however, as the right-handed hitting Slater is one of those rare birds who has seen more PA in his career vs LHP (872) than RHP (726), and he has mostly mashed them accordingly.
He sports a career OPS of .804 against southpaws vs. a pedestrian .655 OPS against righties.
Things have not gone according to plan with Slater so far in 2024, however. He’s just 12 for 69 with nary a dinger against LHP so far this year, though he’s actually managed to go 6 for 21 with a dinger against righties in limited work. All told, he’s the owner of a meager .575 OPS on the season, and that paired with the emergence of Luis Matos and Heliot Ramos in the San Francisco outfield made him expendable.
In an ideal world, Slater will merely slide into a platoon role with the Reds, too. However, given the litany of injuries they’re facing in their OF mix, I fear we may see him in the lineup against RHP more often than we’d like for the time being. It’s an acquisition to help a spot in the lineup that has struggled mightily either way, I’ll admit, and at least the Reds aren’t waiting until the absolute last minute to get some help.
Though sitting 6 games under .500 and with 4 teams ahead of them in the chase for the unlimited Wild Card spots, perhaps it’s already nearing absolute last minute for them already.
