Phillies Austin Hays back from once-mysterious kidney infection

One of the Phillies’ counters to Sean Manaea and Jose Quintana — lefty starters who forced left-handed hitting Brandon Marsh out of the lineup — in Games 3 and 4 didn’t even know if he would make it back this season.In early September, less than two months after Philadelphia acquired him from Baltimore ahead of the trade deadline, Austin Hays — an All-Star outfielder in 2023 — went on the injured list with a kidney infection.He had already missed time with a left hamstring strain following the deal, but this was different.

It was difficult to pinpoint the infection, Hays said.They tested it.

They treated it.They kept treating and kept testing when he didn’t heal as quickly as expected.But by the end of the regular season, Hays returned for three games.

By Game 2 of the NLDS, he made a cameo as a pinch hitter — a “big step” for him, he said.And two days later, as manager Rob Thomson told him before the series, Hays started in the Phillies’ 7-2 Game 3 NLDS loss to the Mets at Citi Field, completing his quest to return, to make the playoff roster and, finally, to appear in a game.“I don’t feel reserved in any way, in any facet of the game,” said Hays, who played left field and was 0-for-3 in the loss.

“My power is there, my strength is there, my speed.So I feel like myself all around.

It was very difficult to get back to that point.”After the game, Thomson said, “He looked a little rusty and a little off balance, timing was off a little bit.”After the Phillies got Hays in July, sending Seranthony Domínguez and outfielder Cristian Pache to Baltimore, he started regularly.He hit .254 across 19 games, homered once and drove in five runs.

But then the infection, which The Philadelphia Inquirer reported was likely the result of eating contaminated food, derailed the final month of his season.Initially, Hays started improving, but then the effects returned — which prompted more examining, which actually produced better results, h...