If you ask Gary Thorne who he believes will be the starting center fielder for the Baltimore Orioles on Opening Day 2020, I have a feeling he will enthusiastically proclaim Austin Hays as his guy. After an unbelievable month of September, full of highlight reel catches and major league at-bats, I also believe that most of Birdland will agree with that sentiment.
Hays wasn’t supposed to be on the Orioles major league roster this late in the season and was instead destined to finish out the year in the Arizona Fall League to get his work in after missing a big chunk of the 2019 season due to injuries.