Yankees activate Tyler Austin off the 60-day DL, option him to Scranton
Tyler
Austin came into Spring Training with a realistic chance to crack his first
opening day roster in his career. He was fighting for playing time at first
base with Chris Carter and Greg Bird and was in the outfield mix. Before spring
games even started, he fouled a ball off of his left foot in batting practice, and
an MRI revealed that his foot had been broken.
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| Photo Credit: NY Post |
Austin
was eventually placed on the 60-day disabled list and missed the rest of
February, all of March and April, and had recently started playing in rehab
games with AAA Scranton. In his eight rehab games with Scranton, he batted .300 with a home
run and three RBIs.
It
is surprising to many Yankee fans to see Austin assigned to AAA, after the
horrendous performance by the Yankees at the first base position so far in
2017. However, Austin did not get to play in a single Spring Training game, and
he struck out nine times walked only once, in only 30 at-bats with the AAA ball club. The Yankees are likely
being cautious and not bringing him up until they are certain that he will be
able to produce to the best of his ability. The combination of Rob Refsynder
and Chris Carter playing first base will remain for now, but will likely only
last for another week at the most.
When Austin returns, he could also spend some time at third base, as he has experience playing there in his minor league career.
When Austin returns, he could also spend some time at third base, as he has experience playing there in his minor league career.
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