Yankees Tyler Austin Looks Like Favorite for Next Call-Up

Former New York Yankees top prospect Tyler Austin has revived his once promising career and may be next in line for a big league promotion.

Before lingering wrist issues sapped his power production,Tyler Austin was one of the most highly regarded young players in the New York Yankees system, even earning a spot on Baseball America’s Top 100 list (#77 overall) before the 2013 season.

In February of 2013, BA’s John Manuel ranked Tyler Austin as the Yankees fourth best prospect and listed him as having the best hit tool in the system with a 65. Here is an excerpt from his scouting report at the time (subscription required):

"The Yankees’ most advanced young hitter, Austin mixes physical maturity with athleticism. He has a short, quick swing and good balance at the plate, usually staying back and trusting his fast hands. His relatively flat stroke limits his home run potential to an extent, but some scouts believe he’ll tap into solid power down the line."

Austin missed almost 60 games after hitting the disabled list in July of 2013 with a wrist injury. The injury reportedly continued to affect him through the 2014-2015 seasons. His power numbers dropped dramatically as he struggled with the lingering issue. Austin had a combined .559 slugging percentage across three levels in 2012, that dropped to .378 in 2013 and only a slightly improved .419 in 2014.

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Following two OK, but not great seasons with Double-A Trenton, Tyler Austin received his first taste of the International League in 2015. He struggled mightily, batting .235/.309/.311 (82 wRC+), in 299 which earned him a demotion back to the Thunder and caused him to lose his 40 man roster spot following the season.

Austin was assigned to play for the Saugaro Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League in the hopes that he could find some semblance of his former success at the plate. When asked by Brendan Kuty of NJ Advance Media if the chance to play in the AFL could help rejuvenate Austin’s fading career, Yankees GM Brian Cashman responded:

"“Hope so. Don’t know. Bottom line is, we’ve got to get him going. He’s got to get it going. He’s off the 40-man roster now so there’s a good opportunity.”"

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Even after a solid showing with the Saguaros, Austin was assigned to Double-A Trenton for the fifth time to begin 2016. With so many talented young outfielders vying for time in Triple-A, it seemed unlikely Austin would get much of a chance this year.

When the big league club suffered a rash of injuries at first base early in the season, Tyler Austin was approached by the Yankees and asked to work at learning the position. The transition was pretty seamless, and Austin is arguably third on the organization’s depth chart at the moment, behind Mark Teixeira and Rob Refsnyder.

Austin sounded pleased with his progress when discussing the position switch with Dave Rosengrant of the Times Leader:

"I’m feeling good, but I got a long way to go. I’ve come a long way since the beginning of the year. You just gotta work at it, just like everything else and it’s coming along good so I don’t think it’s that much of an adjustment."

It certainly doesn’t hurt that Tyler Austin has been one of the hottest hitters in the International League since his promotion, batting .321/.417/.637 (203 wRC+) with a whopping 13 home runs in 223 plate appearances. With his wrist finally healthy, it appears that Austin has regained the power stroke that once made him such an enticing prospect.

Don’t think the Yankees haven’t noticed. Both Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman have mentioned Tyler Austin as a potential call-up candidate in the last week. Yankees manager Joe Girardi told the media that Tyler Austin is expected to compete with Greg Bird for the starting first base job next year.

With Alex Rodriguez playing his final game Friday, the Yankees will have a free roster spot Saturday morning. It is expected to go to either Tyler Austin or Aaron Judge. While Judge is the more exciting prospect, he just missed a month with knee surgery, so the team may feel more comfortable giving Austin first dibs.

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With the year he’s had, bringing up Tyler Austin in the next two month is a no-brainer. If they don’t add him to the 40-man roster before this winter, not only would he be left open to the Rule 5 draft, but he could elect minor league free agency.

It is now or never if the Yankees want to see what they have in Austin at the big league level. With Mark Teixeira retiring, the team needs to start looking to the future at first base.