BOSTON -- Citing the number of at-bats he’s been able to binge in the big leagues this September, the Orioles have reversed their plans for center fielder Austin Hays. The club informed Hays on Sunday that he won’t be sent to the Arizona Fall League at season’s end, as originally scheduled.

Instead, Hays will head home to Florida having left exactly the kind of impression the Orioles were hoping for. A team source told MLB.com that Double-A Bowie outfielder T.J. Nichting will be sent to the AFL in Hays’ place.

“I’m excited how everything turned out,” Hays said. “I’m looking forward to trying to carry the momentum I built here and take it into Spring Training next year.”

The Orioles’ decision to promote Hays eight days into September hinged on the fact that they could send him to the Fall League after the season was through, via a new rule that allows players to participate even if they’ve appeared in the Major Leagues. That plan was made under the assumption that Hays would be a part-time contributor at the big league level, part of a loose platoon in center field with Mason Williams.

But the calculus changed when Williams crashed into the center-field wall at Oriole Park on Sept. 17, effectively ending his season. Hays started 10 of the club’s last 11 games in center, and he accumulated more than 70 plate appearances in 20 games (15 starts).

Hays entered Sunday’s season finale against the Red Sox with 449 plate appearances this year stretched across five developmental levels, over 100 more than he accumulated during an injury-plagued 2018. He was able to do so despite missing time to thumb and hamstring ailments, which followed the shoulder issues and right ankle surgery ended his '18 season.

Healthy again, Hays spent his month back in the Majors making a series of highlight-reel defensive plays and hitting .313 with a .958 OPS. He seems poised to arrive in Sarasota, Fla., next spring the favorite to win the club’s Opening Day center-field job.

“I think I was able to show all the parts of my game this September -- defense, baserunning, aggressive style of play,” Hays said. “Last spring, I wasn’t sure how my ankle was going to hold up. There were a lot of unknowns. This year, I’m healthy at the end of the year, and I got to end it in the big leagues. I’m getting to play the last game of the season. It’s definitely a better feeling than I had last year at this time.”