{"id":80513,"date":"2025-12-24T22:16:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T22:16:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/80513\/"},"modified":"2025-12-24T22:16:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T22:16:21","slug":"yankees-interested-in-austin-hays-as-cody-bellinger-backup-plan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/80513\/","title":{"rendered":"Yankees interested in Austin Hays as Cody Bellinger backup plan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Yankees and Mets are battling for not only the same starting outfielder but also the fallback option.<\/p>\n<p>While Cody Bellinger is a top target for both teams, The Post\u2019s Jon Heyman reported Wednesday that the Bronx Bombers have too checked in on veteran Austin Hays.<\/p>\n<p>Heyman reported Tuesday that the Amazin\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/12\/23\/sports\/mets-interested-in-austin-hays-after-strong-season-with-reds\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">have interest in the righty outfielder<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Hays, 30, profiles as more of a reserve bat than an everyday starter, but he provides value since he hits lefty pitching well.<\/p>\n<p>Last year with the Reds, Hays slashed .309\/.400\/.549 with a .949 OPS against lefties.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38012596\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/12-cincinnati-reds-reacts-single-112539360.jpg\" alt=\"Cincinnati Reds player Austin Hays in a red helmet and jersey reacts after hitting a single.\" class=\"wp-image-38012596\"  \/>Austin Hays during the 2025 playoffs. Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>He oddly displayed much more power against righties, hitting 13 of his 15 homers against same-side pitchers in roughly three times the amount of plate appearances (311 to 105).<\/p>\n<p>However, he hit just \/.249\/.286\/.422 against righties.<\/p>\n<p>In a world where the <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2025\/12\/08\/sports\/where-yankees-can-pivot-if-they-dont-bring-back-cody-bellinger\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Yankees don\u2019t retain Bellinger<\/a>, he profiles as the possible righty bat in a platoon with Jasson Dominguez or Spencer Jones \u2014 should both make the team \u2014 in left field.<\/p>\n<p>Heyman reported that Hays is \u201cmore realistic\u201d for the Yankees in such a scenario.<\/p>\n<p>The Yankees tried such a formula last year with Austin Slater, but he did not hit while dealing with injuries.<\/p>\n<p>Hays could still make sense even if Bellinger returns since Bellinger, Trent Grisham and Jones are all lefties, and Dominguez is better as a lefty hitter than righty.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.34914361;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38012653\" width=\"796\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/doubles-fourth-inning-new-york-112684594.jpg\" alt=\"New York Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger doubles during the fourth inning.\" class=\"wp-image-38012653\"  \/>Cody Bellinger runs during the playoffs. Robert Sabo for NY Post<\/p>\n<p>For his career, Hays is a .262 hitter with 83 homers and 312 RBIs spanning eight seasons.<\/p>\n<p>He played for the Orioles from 2017-24 before being acquired by the Phillies during the 2024 trade deadline, and posted a .768 OPS with Cincinnati last year.<\/p>\n<p>The Yankees are seemingly waiting for Bellinger to decide before proceeding with their offseason since their moves thus far have been low-level re-signings like Tim Hill and Ryan Yarbrough. <\/p>\n<p>Grisham returning on the $22 million qualifying offer tied up a solid amount of potential flexibility, although he gives the Yankees a 30-homer bat in center field. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Yankees and Mets are battling for not only the same starting outfielder but also the fallback option.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80514,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[13917,20,3473,21528,9,11,10,321,319],"class_list":{"0":"post-80513","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-cody-bellinger","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-mlb-free-agency","11":"tag-mlb-hot-stove","12":"tag-new-york","13":"tag-new-york-headlines","14":"tag-new-york-news","15":"tag-new-york-yankees","16":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80513"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80513\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}