Austin Thomas Slater (born December 13, 1992), nicknamed AC, is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

for the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He played college baseball at Stanford University. He was drafted by the Giants in the eighth round of the

2014 MLB draft The 2014 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 5 through June 7, 2014, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first two rounds were conducted on June 5, followed by rounds three through ten on June ...

. He made his MLB debut in 2017.

High school and college

Slater attended

The Bolles School The Bolles School is an American private college preparatory day and boarding school in Jacksonville, Florida. It has a lower school (including pre-kindergarten), a middle school, and a high school, spread across four campuses around the Jackson ...

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

. He broke his ankle while playing frisbee, and did not play his senior year. He was drafted as a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

by the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

in the 44th round of the

2011 Major League Baseball draft The 2011 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2011, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gerrit Cole out of the University of California, Los Angeles, with the firs ...

. He did not sign, and instead played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional p ...

at Stanford University, batting .310 with five

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 72 RBIs in 113 career games during three seasons. Slater played for the

Hyannis Harbor Hawks The Hyannis Harbor Hawks, formerly the Hyannis Mets, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Hyannis, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Harbor Hawks play ...

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

in the eighth round of the

, and signed for a $200,000 signing bonus.

Professional career

Draft and minor leagues

Slater made his professional debut in 2014 with the

Arizona League Giants Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Four C ...

and was promoted to the

Salem-Keizer Volcanoes The Salem-Keizer Volcanoes are a baseball team located in Keizer, Oregon, who are charter members of the Mavericks Independent Baseball League, a four-team league entirely based in the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area and playing all their hom ...

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 The San Jose Giants are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Located in San Jose, California, the Giants play their home games at Excite Ballpark. Games San Jose Giants ga ...

and

Richmond Flying Squirrels The Richmond Flying Squirrels are a Minor League Baseball team based in Richmond, Virginia. The team, which is a part of the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants major league club, and plays at The Diamond. The ...

where he posted a .294

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

with three home runs and 47 RBIs in 114 games between both teams. He was a CAL mid-season All Star. After the season, the Giants assigned him to the

Scottsdale Scorpions The Scottsdale Scorpions are a baseball team that plays in the East Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games in Scottsdale, Arizona, at Scottsdale Stadium, which is also the spring training facility of the San Francisco Gia ...

of the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fille ...

(AFL). 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 The Sacramento River Cats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Prior to 2015, the River Cats were the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics for 15 ...

. In 109 games between both teams, he posted a combined .305 batting average with 18 home runs and 67 RBIs. He was an MiLB 2016 organization All Star. Slater played for the Scorpions of the AFL after the regular season. He began 2017 with Sacramento.

San Francisco Giants

2017-19

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 117 at bats 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, and stole seven bases without being caught. He was an MiLB 2018 organization All Star. 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.

2020–present

In 2020 with the Giants he batted .282/.408/.506 with 18 runs, 5 home runs, and 7 RBIs in 85 at bats. Slater stole eight bases (10th in the NL) in nine attempts (his 88.89% stolen base percentage was 5th-best in the NL). Avoiding arbitration, Slater and the Giants agreed on a $1.15 million salary for the 2021 season. In the 2021 regular season, he batted .241/.320/.423 with 39 runs, 12 home runs, and 32 RBIs in 274 at bats, and stole 15 bases in 17 attempts (his 88.24% success rate led the National League). As a pinch hitter, he led the major leagues with 13 RBIs, and tied for the major league lead with four home runs. He primarily played center field, with stints in left field and right field (his perfect fielding percentage led all NL outfielders), and one game as a pitcher. In 2022 he batted .264/.366/.408 in a career-high 277 at bats, with 49 runs, seven home runs, 34 RBIs, and 12 stp;em bases om 13 attempts. He played 106 games in center field, 44 as a pinch hitter, 16 in left field, 14 in right field, 7 as a pinch runner, and two as a DH. He batted 10-for-30 as a pinch hitter, with 11 walks and three hit-by-pitch (.333/.546/.500). His 10 pinch hits were second in the major leagues, and his six pinch RBIs tied for fifth. On January 13, 2023, Slater agreed to a one-year, $3.2 million contract with the Giants, avoiding salary arbitration.

Personal life

Slater was born and raised in

. He was named after his grandfather,

Ed Austin T. Edward "Ed" Austin Jr. (July 15, 1926 – April 23, 2011) was an American politician and attorney. He served as mayor of Jacksonville, Florida from 1991 to 1995. He also served as the first Public Defender for Florida's Fourth Judicial Circ ...

, who was Mayor of Jacksonville from 1991–95.

References

External links

Stanford Cardinal bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slater, Austin 1992 births Living people Baseball players from Jacksonville, Florida Major League Baseball outfielders San Francisco Giants players Stanford Cardinal baseball players Arizona League Giants players Salem-Keizer Volcanoes players San Jose Giants players Richmond Flying Squirrels players Scottsdale Scorpions players Sacramento River Cats players Toros del Este players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Hyannis Harbor Hawks players