Meet A Prospect : Austin Romine

Austin Allen Romine was born on November 22nd, 1988 in Lake Forest, California where he went to high school at El Toro High School in Lake Forest, CA. With a 6'0 220 lb frame behind the plate you can see why the New York Yankees drafted Austin in the second round of the 2007 MLB First Year Players Draft out of High School. With Major League blood running through his veins, his father Kevin Romine played for the Boston Red Sox for six seasons and his brother Kevin Romine is currently playing for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Austin has a bright future ahead of him and is on the cusp of making the Major Leagues with the big league club Yankees.

Austin would make his professional debut in the 2007 season with the Gulf Coast Yankees putting up a triple slash of .500/.667/1.000 in one game. Austin would not be long for the GCL as he would start the 2008 season with the Charleston Riverdogs putting up a triple slash of .300/.344/.437 while hitting 10 home runs and knocking in 49 RBIs. Heading into the 2009 season Austin was named the 4th best prospect in the entire Yankees system while spending his time with the Tampa Yankees putting up a triple slash of .276/.322/.441 while hitting 13 home runs and knocking in 72 RBIs. Austin would be named the Florida State League Player of the Year in this 2009 season. Austin started the 2010 season in Trenton with the Thunder while putting up a triple slash of.268/.324/.402 while hitting 10 home runs and knocking in 69 RBIs while being named the Yankees second best prospect only behind fellow battery mate Jesus Montero. Austin would be a participant in the All-Star Futures game as well in 2010. Austin would split time in 2011 between Trenton and the AAA Scranton team putting up a combined triple slash of .279/.343/.368 while hitting 6 home runs and knocking in 48 RBIs. Austin would see a back injury keep him from only playing in a combined 31 games between the Gulf Coast Yankees, the Tampa Yankees, and the Scranton Yankees putting up a combined triple slash of .243/.333/.408 but proved down the stretch he was healthy.

Austin was a September call up in the 2011 season and appeared in nine games while getting 20 plate appearances. He would only hit for a .158 batting average, .200 on base percentage, and a .158 slugging percentage with one walk, five strike outs, and only three singles to show for his time in the show. Austin was invited to Spring Training in 2012 and was looking to challenge the likes of Francisco Cervelli for the back up catcher job before a back injury would severely set back his production. Austin has a lot of catching up to do, no pun intended, in his development but took a great step towards proving his health when he attended this years Arizona Fall League. Austin will start the season in AAA with the Scranton Rail Riders but look for him to be up at some point this season behind the plate in the Bronx.

ETA : Late 2013