McCovey Chronicles · Dec 21, 2023
Player Review: Austin Slater
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY SportsThe 2023 season was, in many respects, vintage Austin Slater on display: lots of hard and loud contact, a stringy stache in May, beating up southpaws, and ridiculous bat flings.
Statcast still loved his bat, grading high in average exit velocity, hard-hit and barrel percentage. He’s always been whiff-y—the cost of power—but countered it with a discerning eye at the plate and decent walk rate.
As for his role as a right-handed outfield platoon—his main gig—Slater posted an .800 OPS mark in his fifth consecutive season. He showed up in high leverage situations, notably hitting .341/.396/.614 (1.009 OPS) in 48 plate appearances with runners in scoring position.