Rookie outfielder Austin Slater cycled through various ups and downs during the 2017 season, but ultimately, the Stanford product put himself in position to challenge for a big league roster spot next spring.
While a mammoth home run in Milwaukee and earning a starting role in left field qualified as highlights for Slater, injuries derailed his progress and ultimately forced him to finish his season on the disabled list.
On Tuesday evening, Slater joined Kevin Frandsen & Ryan Covay on The Giants Hot Stove League Show and said that he hopes the work he put in during his rehabilitation impressed the front office and his teammates.
“Obviously, I might have rushed a little bit, but I’m glad I did it and I hope I earned some respect upstairs and the guys in the locker room for doing it that way,” Slater said. “For me, it was a frustrating process, but something I’ve learned from and hopefully improve on moving forward.”
On the same day he made his major league debut, Slater got his first major league hit and RBI out of the way. On June 2, he went 1-5 against the Philadelphia Phillies and laced a single into center field that scored Brandon Crawford from second base.
Four games later, Slater checked his first home run off his rookie checklist and it was a big one. Before Aaron Judge hit a 496-foot home run that nearly left Yankee Stadium, Slater’s 461-foot blast was the furthest hit by a rookie in 2017.
Slater continued to swing well and bagged a .270 batting average with eight home runs before his rookie campaign took a hit. On July 7, just over a month after his call up to the major leagues, Slater injured his hip flexor trying to beat a groundout and it threw his season into question.
Nonetheless, Slater worked hard to recover from his injury and it paid off. He returned in time to play five games for the Giants before undergoing surgery toward the end of the season.
“It’s definitely been a different offseason, in terms of routine and structure,” Slater said. “I had a surgery at the very end of the season with like two or three days left, so this last six weeks have pretty much been all physical therapy and rehab, but I finally got cleared this last Friday and started working out, lifting and getting ready for next year.”
The work ethic Slater put in to making a speedy return to the Major Leagues is the same he’s putting in to prepare for 2018. Instead of letting his past injuries burden his progress, Slater uses it as motivation to regain what he once had: A spot on a Major League roster.
“It’s more frustrating than anything,” Slater said. “It’s the thing you’ve been dreaming about your whole life and you’re there, living it, and then it gets taken away from you. For me that was great fuel to work hard and try and get back.”
To listen to the full interview check out the podcast below, and skip to 1:54 for Slater on rehabbing.