The long-time Giants did not return from their most recent road trip to San Francisco.
Outfielder Austin Slater met with the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday night as a replacement for left fielder Alex Young, who has pitched 24 games for the Giants in 2022. The Giants sent the Reds an undisclosed sum along with Slater, who is due $4 million this offseason.
Although he thrived in a team role under Farhan Zadi and Gabe Kapler, Slater is the last holdover from the previous regime. In a 107-win season in 2021, he was effective, posting an .894 OPS on the charts and hitting four pinch-hit homers, but this season was a struggle.
Slater had elbow surgery last October and struggled most of the spring. He was 5-for-39 before going on IL in May, and while his production has improved since his return, he still hasn’t hit at anything close to his former rate. Overall, he has a .202 average and a .581 OPS with just one homer. Against lefties, he’s hitting just .174, which makes it tough with Mike Yastrzemski and Michael Conforto in the corner outfield spots.
A rare signing in early July suggests the Giants are ready to commit more to the 22-year-old, who has seen inconsistent playing time from Luis Matos. Matos has only started two games on the road trip, but now he’s lined up for more assists. The Giants have made it easier to bring players off the 60-day IL, which they will be required to do at least twice this month for Robbie Ray and Alex Cobb.
In the year Drafted in 2014, Slater played 592 games for the Giants over eight years. He has been outspoken in support of the city of San Francisco after some issues in free agency in recent years, and has served as the team’s MLBPA representative for several years, helping the Giants and MLB navigate the pandemic and lockout. Slater now serves in a leadership role for the MLBPA.
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