Yankees send Tyler Austin to Triple-A Scranton, again

With one week left until opening day, the Yankees 25-man roster began to take shape as the club reassigned four players to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, highlighted by first baseman Tyler Austin.

There comes the point in every player’s career when the writing is on the wall, and no matter what he does, the fit within a particular organization is no longer apparent. For 26-year-old Tyler Austin and the Yankees, that time is now.

Before Wednesday night’s 9-4 victory over the Orioles, the Yanks sent Austin, Billy McKinney, Ben Heller and Giovanny Gallegos to Triple-A Scranton.

With Jacoby Ellsbury likely headed to the disabled list and Greg’s Bird’s propensity for injury and lengthy struggles this spring, I was honestly surprised that Austin, a former top 100 prospect, was reassigned to the minor leagues.

I fully understand that as long as Bird is upright, Austin is never going to receive more playing time than No. 33, but if there’s one thing Austin does with regularity, it’s that he hits left-handed pitching.

Over parts of two big league seasons, the Georgia native is slashing .361/.432/.722 with four home runs and 12 RBI in 36 at-bats versus southpaws.

Unfortunately, his .184/.228/.333 slash against right-handers and 53:11 total strikeout-to-walk-ratio has cast doubt as to Austin’s long-term viability as a major league starter.

The other quality attribute Austin possess that shouldn’t be overlooked is his stellar defensive acumen. In 35 big league games (231.2 innings), Austin has zero errors and 16 assists with 215 put-outs.

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The adage that pitching and defense win championships still rings true. And considering that Greg Bird has negative numbers across 740.1 innings in the field (-4 DRS, -3.8 RngR, -2.4 UZR and -7.5 UZR/150), it would have been advantageous for the Yankees to keep Austin around as a late-inning defensive replacement.

For me, it’s never too early in the season to have a valuable bench piece to face a tough left-hander or solidify the ‘D’ in the final frame. I mean, how many times do April defeats end up coming to bite a club in the rear come September? The answer is plenty.

After slashing .235/.333/.618 with four dingers and six RBI this spring, the Yanks opted to keep fan-favorite Ronald Torreyes on the 25-man roster.

However, with Tyler Wade and Neil Walker, set to split time at second base, Torreyes should have been deemed excess, unless you believe manager Aaron Boone’s logic that Toe will be the club’s emergency third catcher.

Regardless, pitchers Luis Cessa, Jonathan Holder and Domingo German will now battle it out for the right to be the 13th pitcher on the roster.

And although Austin will probably get the call at some point this season, it would be in Austin’s best interest if the club finally dealt him to a team that needs a young first baseman still capable of reaching his potential.

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With waining trade value, general manager Brian Cashman won’t be hard-pressed to deal Austin if it isn’t in the best interests of the organization. I just hope Austin doesn’t end up becoming the next Rob Refsnyder.