Yankees call up Tyler Austin to face southpaw shooters

With the Yankees set to face three left-handed starters over the next three games, the club decided to call upon former Baby Bomber Tyler Austin.

Steven Matz, Chris Sale and Drew Pomeranz. Those are the three southpaws set to take on the Yankees as the club looks to not only sweep the lowly Mets, but gain ground on the AL East leading Red Sox in Boston this coming weekend.

With the news of current Yankees first base platoon option Garrett Cooper hitting the disabled list with left hamstring tendonitis, it appears another right-handed first baseman is the order of the day for manager Joe Girardi and company. Enter 25-year-old Tyler Austin.

Austin, who has only seen four full days at the major league level this season, June 24-28, has been plagued by a slew of injuries in 2017. After suffering a broken ankle during Spring Training that forced him to the 60-day DL, Austin didn’t return to Triple-A Scranton until June 5.

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Then shortly after his lone stint in the Bronx, Austin went down with a severe hamstring strain.

Having gone on a recent eight-day rehab assignment, it was only six days ago that Austin was activated and given the all-clear to return to full action. Losing another player to injury has become quite the occurrence for the Yankees this season. The bit of solace to take out of another DL entry is the fact that Austin, a former top 100 prospect is raring to go just in time.

Austin, who has always been known as an exceptional hitter against left-handed pitching is mashing to the tune of .366 with three dingers and 10 RBI in 41 at-bats against lefties in ’17.

Overall, the Conyers, GA native has certainly earned this recent promotion — combining for a .304/.369/.563 slash line, seven homers, 28 RBI and 30 runs scored in 44 minor league games spread across two levels this season (Double-A Trenton being the other).

With Chase Headley manning first base and the impending return of Greg Bird from his own extensive DL stay (we’ll see), it will be interesting to see how long Austin sticks around for.

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Of course, if Austin hits the way he has this season down on the farm, he could very well carve out a nice little spot for himself during the Yanks’ playoff run. Only time will tell.