Austin Slater

Austin Slater

30-Year-Old OutfielderOF
San Francisco Giants
2023 Fantasy Outlook
Slater filled his usual platoon against southpaw role, but improved numbers against righthanders fueled a career-high number of plate appearances, albeit in fewer games than 2021 since Slater incurred a couple of shirt IL stints. His power dropped, commensurate with the hitting environment, but the rest of Slater's underlying metrics carried over from the prior season. With Mitch Haniger signed as a free agent, Slater is again destined for short side of the platoon work, spelling Joc Pederson and sometimes Mike Yastrzemski along with some time at designated hitter. Slater's ability to collect double-digit steals in a part-time capacity has some mixed league appeal, but more on a fill in basis when it is clear he'll be on the field frequently during that transaction period. Read Past Outlooks
RANKSFrom Preseason
#599
ADP
$Signed a one-year, $1.85 million contract with the Giants in November of 2021.
Delivers three hits in win
OFSan Francisco Giants
September 25, 2023
Slater went 3-for-3 with a double and a hit-by-pitch in Monday's 2-1 win over the Padres.
ANALYSIS
Slater did a great job atop the lineup versus tough lefty Blake Snell, but the Giants' Nos. 2-4 hitters went just 1-for-11 with a walk in the contest. While he's still in a short-side platoon role, Slater is hitting .294 (10-for-34) in September. The outfielder boasts a .271/.347/.398 slash line with five home runs, 20 RBI, 23 runs scored and two stolen bases over 202 plate appearances this year.
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Batting Stats
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2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2023 MLB Game Log
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2022 MLB Game Log
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2021 MLB Game Log
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2020 MLB Game Log
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2019 MLB Game Log
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2018 MLB Game Log
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2017 MLB Game Log
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Minor League Game Log
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
1
2
3
1
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
35
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2021
 
 
+37%
OPS vs LHP
2023
 
 
+29%
OPS vs LHP
2022
 
 
+16%
OPS vs LHP
2021
 
 
+80%
OPS vs LHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2021vs Left .843 522 76 18 57 19 .283 .372 .471
Since 2021vs Right .615 316 36 6 29 10 .214 .301 .314
2023vs Left .800 147 18 4 15 2 .288 .361 .439
2023vs Right .619 60 6 1 5 0 .226 .317 .302
2022vs Left .824 182 32 4 18 7 .277 .379 .445
2022vs Right .710 143 17 3 16 5 .246 .350 .361
2021vs Left .894 193 26 10 24 10 .284 .373 .521
2021vs Right .497 113 13 2 8 5 .171 .230 .267
More Splits View More Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2021
 
 
+17%
OPS at Home
2023
 
 
+52%
OPS at Home
2022
 
 
+18%
OPS on Road
2021
 
 
+41%
OPS at Home
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2021Home .815 431 63 11 43 15 .286 .374 .442
Since 2021Away .694 407 49 13 43 14 .226 .314 .380
2023Home .906 105 15 3 12 1 .318 .429 .477
2023Away .595 102 9 2 8 1 .227 .265 .330
2022Home .713 170 26 3 14 4 .252 .335 .377
2022Away .844 155 23 4 20 8 .278 .400 .444
2021Home .867 156 22 5 17 10 .302 .378 .489
2021Away .616 150 17 7 15 5 .178 .260 .356
More Splits View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does Austin Slater compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.34
 
BB Rate
9.7%
 
K Rate
28.0%
 
BABIP
.369
 
ISO
.130
 
AVG
.270
 
OBP
.348
 
SLG
.400
 
OPS
.748
 
wOBA
.334
 
Exit Velocity
91.0 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
30.7%
 
Barrels/PA
6.8%
 
Expected BA
.252
 
Expected SLG
.436
 
Sprint Speed
23.9 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
49.2%
 
Line Drive %
21.4%
 
Fly Ball %
29.4%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
Games By Position
Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
Slater helped propel the Giants to the playoff by filling the short side a platoon in the outfield. His double-digit home runs and stolen bases make it seems like he could benefit from more playing time. The deal is that an extreme platoon split will limit his upside. In his career (843 PA), he's struggled against righties (.633 OPS, .853 OPS against lefties). Those struggles didn't end in 2021 with a .894 OPS vs. LHP and just a .497 vs. RHP. Nothing in his profile points to his struggles against lefties going away. His fantasy value comes down to the league type. If the league allows daily moves, he can be started when there is a lefty on the mound, and benched the rest of the time. In a weekly league, he's waiver wire fodder, appealing primarily in those one or two weeks when the Giants are facing five or more lefties. Don't get sucked into doubling his 2021 season.
Groin and elbow issues limited Slater to just 31 games last season, but he was impressive when available, hitting .282/.408/.506 with five homers and eight steals. That's quite a big change from what the 28-year-old showed in his first three partial seasons, when he posted a .254/.335/.368 line in 176 contests, looking firmly like a fourth outfielder. His improvements may have come in a small sample, but they were backed up by strong peripherals, with his .305 xBA and .542 xSLG suggesting he may have even underachieved. His 14.1% barrel rate, 15.4 BB% and 21.2 K% were all career bests. A return to previous form wouldn't be a huge surprise given how brief his breakout was, but if he keeps making considerably more contact that he had in the past while hitting the ball harder than ever, he'll remain a capable everyday starter at minimum and a potential draft-day bargain.
Slater split time between the minor leagues -- where he hit .308 in 240 at-bats -- and the majors last season. With the Giants, he posted a .238 average and a modest five home runs in 192 plate appearances. Nonetheless, Slater showed some signs of being a capable big-league hitter. Most notably, his 11.5 BB% was well above league average, and his 45.0% hard-hit rate was a sizable jump over his previous two stints in the majors. Of course, hitting the ball hard is only relevant if a player is able to put the ball in play, and that has been a struggle for Slater throughout his time with San Francisco. He posted a 30.7 K% for the second consecutive season in 2019, dampening much of the progress he made at the plate. Slater's defensive versatility is an asset, but given his penchant for striking out and less-than-stellar production through 176 career big-league games, a roster spot for 2020 is not guaranteed.
Slater's sophomore season was largely a forgettable one, as he managed a mediocre.251/.333/.307 line in 74 big-league appearances. His strikeout rate jumped nearly eight percentage points to 30.7%, while his slugging percentage fell by 95 points. It took a .377 BABIP to get him up to his unimpressive batting line, which doesn't bode well for a player who is limited to first base and the outfield corners, defensively. Those who want to hold out optimism for the 26-year-old's future can point to his .319/.391/.513 line over parts of three seasons with Triple-A Sacramento, but he just hasn't been able to maintain anything close to that level of performance against big-league pitching. The rebuilding Giants should have plenty of playing time for players like Slater, so he'll likely be given another chance to prove himself at some point.
Slater didn't make a ton of noise in his 34-game debut, but he was perfectly adequate at the dish. After getting the callup on June 2, he hit .282 with a league-average 100 wRC+ in 127 plate appearances. A torn adductor muscle in his right hip cost Slater most of the second half. He returned late in September, but only made five appearances before landing back on the shelf with a sports hernia, which required surgery. Slater's control of the strike zone is a little shaky (22.8 percent strikeout rate last year, 6.3 percent walk rate), and his home park mitigates what power he has, but he's just 25 and should at least be afforded chances against lefties to begin 2018. He can play all three outfield positions and can even man the infield in a pinch. As a reserve in NL-only, Slater makes some sense, but he will need to show more and work himself in to a bigger role before he pops up on the mixed-league radar.
More Fantasy News
Expected to be available Sunday
OFSan Francisco Giants
September 9, 2023
Slater (head) is expected to be available to play in Sunday's game versus the Rockies, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
ANALYSIS
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Scratched due to dizziness
OFSan Francisco Giants
Illness
September 8, 2023
Slater was scratched from the lineup Friday versus the Rockies due to dizziness, Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Back on bench against righty
OFSan Francisco Giants
August 30, 2023
Slater is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Reds, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.
ANALYSIS
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Reaches base four times
OFSan Francisco Giants
August 28, 2023
Slater went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, an RBI and two walks in Sunday's win over Atlanta.
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Takes seat Tuesday
OFSan Francisco Giants
August 1, 2023
Slater isn't in the Giants' lineup Tuesday against the Diamondbacks, Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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