Baltimore Orioles Outfielder Set to Begin Injury Rehab Assignment

The Baltimore Orioles are ready to send one of their top outfielders to the minors to get ready to return to the Majors.

Mar 2, 2024; Sarasota, Florida, USA; Baltimore Orioles left fielder Austin Hays. / Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports

The Baltimore Orioles announced on Monday that outfielder Austin Hays would begin an injury rehab assignment on Tuesday when minor league action resumes across the country.

The Orioles will assign Hays to Double-A Bowie to start the assignment. The Baysox are home this week against Akron.

Hays has been on the 10-day injured list since last month with a left calf injury he suffered on April 20.

Hays has been with Bowie for the past few days, working out with the Baysox after the Orioles left Baltimore to take on Cincinnati last weekend. While with the Orioles last week he took batting practice and ran the bases.

Hays was having trouble at the plate before he suffered the injury. Coming off an All-Star season, he started 2024 with a .111 batting average and a .311 OPS. He had just five hits in 45 at-bats.

Hays beat Baltimore at the arbitration table in the offseason, winning a $6.3 million salary for 2024 in his second year of arbitration eligibility. Hays slashed .275/.325/.444/.769 with 16 home runs and 67 RBI.

That has allowed Colton Cowser to rise up and build a critical role in the season’s first six weeks. The 24-year-old slashed .276/.354/.575/.929 with six home runs and 19 RBI in his first 32 games of the season.

That’s a big improvement over his debut last season, during which Cowser slashed .115/.286/.148/.434 in 26 games.

Cowser and another top prospect, Heston Kjerstad, are on the 26-man roster, along with Ryan McKenna, Cedric Mullins and Anthony Santander.