Long-time former SF Giants outfielder now in the thick of tight AL East race

The SF Giants parted ways with outfielder Austin Slater earlier this season by trading him to the Cincinnati Reds. He now finds himself on the Baltimore Orioles where he is in the thick of a tight AL East race between Baltimore and the New York Yankees.

The Giants traded Slater earlier this year because he simply was not producing the way he usually does. With the Giants this season, he had a rough slash line of .200/.330/.244 with just 1 home run and 9 RBI. Plus, the emergence of Heliot Ramos as an everyday player made less room for Slater as a right-handed hitting outfielder.

The Giants traded him to the Reds where his struggles continued. He had just 2 hits in 17 at-bats which led to the Reds trading Slater to the Baltimore Orioles at the end of July. His sample size with the Orioles is small but it looks like he is finding his groove again.

Former SF Giants outfielder Austin Slater is getting back on track with the Orioles

With the Orioles thus far, Slater has 6 hits in 17 at-bats with two of them being doubles. This is obviously far too small of a sample size to say that Slater is back to his 2021 levels of production, but it could be a sign that he is getting comfortable again at the plate.

Slater must also be pretty thrilled about the fact that he has been thrust right in the middle of arguably the most exciting and interesting divisional race in all of MLB this season. The Orioles currently have a half-game lead on the New York Yankees in the AL East.

Slater is no stranger to tight, intense divisional races as he was a key member of the 107-win 2021 Giants team that managed to beat out the Los Angeles Dodgers for the division in a race that was extremely tight coming down the stretch. At 74-53, the Orioles will likely not match that 107-win mark, but they are still having a really outstanding season.

While Slater fizzled out to end his Giants career, he was still a solid player for the Giants at his best and was not afraid to speak up on behalf of the city of San Francisco. Perhaps Slater can be to the 2024 Orioles what Cody Ross was to the 2010 Giants as a low-profile mid-season pick up that ends up paying huge dividends later on.