Austin Hays was a Jacksonville University slugger when he met with A.J. Preller ahead of the 2016 amateur draft.<\/p>\n
The Orioles ultimately selected Hayes in the third round that year, but the 31-year-old outfielder had talks with Preller, the Padres\u2019 president of baseball operations, before signing with the Reds in January 2025 and the White Sox last winter.<\/p>\n
So perhaps Sunday\u2019s move \u2014 the Padres signed Hays to a major-league deal and activated him ahead of their finale against the Astros \u2014 was in the cards.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was like, man, it\u2019s just meant to be,\u201d Hays said in front of his new locker at Petco Park on Sunday afternoon. \u201cI just hadn\u2019t ended up here the last couple free agencies, but doesn\u2019t matter how. I\u2019m here now, and I\u2019m really excited to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n
That said, Hays likely had to work himself into that frame of mind.<\/p>\n
He signed a one-year, $6 million deal with the White Sox that included an $8 million mutual option for 2027. He played in just nine games before a right calf strain sent him to the injured list. Hays returned in late April, played three games and then had a left calf strain send him back to the shelf.<\/p>\n
Hays was hitting .279\/.289\/.605 with four homers in 11 rehab games with Triple-A Charlotte when he was designated for assignment last week, after the contending White Sox acquired Brenton Doyle in a trade with the Rockies. Chicago ultimately released him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was hard because I had a lot of conversations with (general manager Chris) Getz in the offseason about what we think the team could be,\u201d Hays said. \u201cI really liked the moves he was making. I liked the guys that he\u2019d brought in, and they had some young studs that started to turn it around the year before. So, being there early in the year, going through a full camp, you talk about the possibilities of what could be, and it was all coming to fruition.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd just unfortunately, the team kind of found their way without me while I was hurt, and just I don\u2019t get to see it through to the end.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Padres\u2019 position in the NL wild-card race, combined with his familiarity with Preller and San Diego while nearly choosing to play here \u2014 \u201cIt was really between San Diego and one other team a couple times,\u201d he said \u2014 made for a quick agreement.<\/p>\n
The Padres optioned infielder Gage Workman to Triple-A El Paso on Sunday to make room for Hays, who is expected to serve as a fourth outfielder and option against left-handed pitching.<\/p>\n
An All-Star in 2023, when he paired 16 homers with a .769 OPS for the Orioles, Hays is a .262\/.312\/.433 hitter in nine years in the majors and a .282\/.340\/.477 hitter against lefties.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, he\u2019s a good right-handed bench bat,\u201d Padres manager Craig Stammen said. \u201cHe\u2019ll be able to play the outfield really well, but one of those guys that in his career has hit lefty pitching really well. So somebody that we can bring in to pinch hit against a tough lefty or someone we could start against a lefty on the mound.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hays has participated in the last three postseasons with the Orioles, Phillies and Reds, hitting .182\/.280\/.227 in seven games. Now, he\u2019s hoping to make it four in a row.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of meaningful baseball to be played,\u201d Hays said. \u201cI left one contender and came over here to a really good ballclub. They\u2019re built to win, and they\u2019re built to go all the way to the finish line. So I\u2019m really thankful that I\u2019m getting the opportunity to join a team like that, and my legs are feeling good. I\u2019m feeling healthy at the right time. I was swinging it really good on my rehab assignment, so I\u2019m confident, healthy and ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Musgrove\u2019s next step<\/p>\n
Right-hander Joe Musgrove made his second rehab start on four days\u2019 rest, pitching into the fourth inning on Sunday for Triple-A El Paso in Reno. He struck out two, didn\u2019t walk a batter and allowed a run on six hits in 3\u2153 innings.<\/p>\n
Musgrove threw 42 of his 53 pitches for strikes and even touched 95 mph in his fourth inning of work. Musgrove threw 39 pitches on Tuesday at low Single-A Lake Elsinore.<\/p>\n
Sunday\u2019s game streamed throughout the home clubhouse at Petco Park and even in Stammen\u2019s office for him to watch between preparations for Sunday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a sight for sore eyes,\u201d Stammen said. \u201cI know we\u2019re all excited for him to have handled this tough rehab process, and that he\u2019s somewhat on the way back, and he\u2019s getting closer every single day. So that\u2019s exciting just to begin with.\u201d<\/p>\n
If he stays on the same schedule, Musgrove \u2014 who last pitched for the Padres in the 2024 offseason before undergoing Tommy John surgery \u2014\u00a0could pitch again as soon as Friday as he eyes a return to the rotation before the end of the month.<\/p>\n
Meantime, Nick Pivetta is continuing to play catch. There is a plan for a bullpen session in the coming days, but the team will read and react to how he feels before making that public.<\/p>\n
If Pivetta does not return to the majors by Aug. 22, the terms of his contract state that his player options can be converted to a club option. That would essentially give the Padres the ability to void the final two years and $32 million of the deal Pivetta signed before the 2025 season.<\/p>\n
Notable<\/p>\n
INF Miguel Andujar had his injured left wrist taped as he took grounders and throws at first base as he eases back into baseball activity. His fracture has sidelined him since July 20.
\nWorkman played in just two games with the Padres following the trade from Detroit alongside RHP Casey Mize, going 1-for-3 with a double and three RBIs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Austin Hays was a Jacksonville University slugger when he met with A.J. Preller ahead of the 2016 amateur…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":428451,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[181,1334,74,76,75,2611,127],"class_list":["post-428450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-diego","tag-latest-headlines","tag-mlb","tag-san-diego","tag-san-diego-headlines","tag-san-diego-news","tag-san-diego-padres","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428450\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/428451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}