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

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

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 catch ...

for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the

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

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

, and

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

. Slater played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. The Giants selected him in the eighth round of the

2014 MLB draft The 2014 Major League Baseball 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 6, and the last 30 round ...

and he made his MLB debut in 2017.

Early life and career

Austin Thomas Slater was born on December 13, 1992, in

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

. Slater attended The Bolles School in

. 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 positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

in the 44th round of the 2011 Major League Baseball draft. Slater did not sign, and instead played

, batting .310 with five

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 72

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

(RBIs) in 113 career games during three seasons. Slater played for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

in the summers of 2013 and 2014, and was named a league all-star in 2013.

Professional career

San Francisco Giants (2014–2024)

Minor leagues (2014–2017)

After his junior year, he was drafted by the

in the eighth round of the

, and signed for a $200,000

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. Slater made his professional debut in 2014 with the Arizona League Giants and was promoted to the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes 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 baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the infield, between second and first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and feet, needs the ability to get rid of the ball quickly, and must ...

in 2015. He spent 2015 with the San Jose Giants 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. Th ...

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 of the

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

(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 (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Prior to 2015, the River Cats were the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland ...

. 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.

2017–2019

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 The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

. 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.

2020–2024

In the Covid-shortened 2020 MLB season, Slater 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 stolen bases on 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. In 89 games for San Francisco, he hit .270/.348/.400 with 5 home runs and 20 RBI. Following the season on October 11, Slater underwent

arthroscopic Arthroscopy (also called arthroscopic or keyhole surgery) is a minimally invasive surgical procedure on a joint in which an examination and sometimes treatment of damage is performed using an arthroscope, an endoscope that is inserted into the j ...

surgery to remove a bone spur from the back of his right elbow.

Cincinnati Reds (2024)

On July 7, 2024, the Giants traded Slater to the

in exchange for Alex Young. In 8 games for Cincinnati, Slater went 2–for–18 (.111) with 3 RBI and 2 walks.

Baltimore Orioles (2024)

On July 30, 2024, the Reds traded Slater, infielder Liván Soto, and cash considerations to the

in exchange for cash considerations or a player to be named later. In 33 games for Baltimore, he slashed .246/.342/.333 with one home run, six RBI, and one stolen base.

Chicago White Sox (2025–present)

On November 18, 2024, Slater signed a one-year, $1.7 million contract with the

. On April 12, 2025, he was placed on the injured list after suffering a meniscus tear in his right knee. On April 15, Slater was ruled out for four-to-six weeks after undergoing surgery.

Personal life

Slater was born and raised in

. He was named after his grandfather, Ed Austin, 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 American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Major League Baseball outfielders San Francisco Giants players Cincinnati Reds players Baltimore Orioles players Chicago White Sox 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 Charlotte Knights players Toros del Este players Hyannis Harbor Hawks players