Early on the morning of July 2, Orioles manager Brandon Hyde gathered his team for a meeting in the strength and conditioning room at Camden Yards.

It was All-Star announcement time. And for the first time since 2016, multiple players from Baltimore would be heading to the Midsummer Classic. Much of the team had an inkling that would be the case, but nobody was sure exactly how many O’s representatives there would be.

• MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard: Tuesday on FOX, 8 p.m. ET

Adley Rutschman was essentially a lock. So was Félix Bautista. And if Bautista’s stats were All-Star worthy, then Yennier Cano should be selected, too. As part of an impromptu speech, Hyde began by listing the Orioles’ first three All-Stars in that order -- Rutschman, Bautista, Cano.

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“We had a really good feeling that Rutschman was going to make it. And Bautista better have made it,” Hyde said in reflection. “And Cano, his numbers are unbelievable.”

But did the list end with Cano, or was there more to it? Austin Hays, who had spent the past week trying to shove any thoughts about potentially being named an All-Star out of his mind, sat among the rest of the team waiting in anticipation.

Then, it happened. Hyde turned, pointed at Hays and shouted, “Haysie!” The team let out its biggest roar of cheers that morning in support of the 28-year-old outfielder, who has now arrived in Seattle with Rutschman, Bautista and Cano ahead of Tuesday’s All-Star Game at T-Mobile Park.

“I felt like they were all 100 percent going to get in,” Hays said. “I didn’t think I was going to, so it kind of caught me off guard.”

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The competition was stiff among American League outfielders. That was evident after Hays finished 14th during the first phase of voting for that group -- only the top six advanced to the final phase -- despite ranking among the AL leaders in batting average for much of the first half.

At the All-Star break, Hays has a .314/.355/.498 slash line through 78 games, plus 22 doubles, two triples, nine homers and 36 RBIs.

Those numbers are why some of Hays’ longtime Orioles teammates weren’t surprised when he was announced as an All-Star for the first time.

“I’d say I was pretty optimistic going in when [Hyde] was listing off the guys about [Hays] having his name called as well,” said outfielder Cedric Mullins, who was Hays’ roommate when the two were coming up together through the Minors.

“I already knew he was that type of player when I saw him in 2017,” outfielder Anthony Santander said.

Santander formed his opinion late in July 2017, when he went to Double-A Bowie for an injury rehab assignment. It was the first time he met Hays, who slashed .330/.367/.594 with 35 extra-base hits (including 16 homers) and 54 RBIs in 64 games for the Baysox that year.

The talent was always there for Hays, a third-round pick out of Jacksonville University selected by Baltimore in the 2016 MLB Draft. But the early years of his big league career were marred by either offensive struggles (a .217 average in 20 games in ‘17) or injuries (right ankle surgery in ‘18, a rib fracture in ‘20 and a left hamstring strain in ‘21).

Hyde, who became the Orioles’ manager in December 2018, always had faith that Hays would fulfill his potential and develop into the type of player he has proven to be in ‘23.

“I was so impressed with his tools,” Hyde said of his early impressions of Hays. “The way he could run, the way he could throw, the way he could play center field and how he could hit the ball hard to both sides of the field.”

Hays’ debut with Baltimore predates not only Hyde’s stint as manager, but also Mike Elias’ tenure as general manager, which began in November 2018. So Hays endured plenty of tough times with the Orioles, who lost 108 or more games in a season three times from 2018-21, with the lone exception being the 60-game pandemic-shortened ‘20 campaign.

When Hays first arrived in the Majors, he was surrounded by talented players -- former All-Stars such as Brad Brach, Adam Jones, Manny Machado, Darren O’Day, Jonathan Schoop and others. Hays was around as each of them either got traded or departed via free agency.

Then, the Orioles were rebuilding. Now, the tides have turned. And Hays, through both his and the team’s ups and downs, is being rewarded for not only his efforts this season, but in years past.

“It was a star-studded locker room, and when I was in the Minor Leagues, I looked up to all the guys that were in the outfield here, Jonesy specifically,” Hays said. “To share something like this, with ‘All-Star’ next to my name -- as those Orioles did when I first got drafted and first got called up, being around those guys -- to feel like I’m kind of part of that brotherhood with them now, it means a lot to me.”