One of the latest September call ups to come out of the
Yankees farm system was catcher Austin Romine, a familiar face to most Yankees
fans. Romine feels like he has been inside the Yankees farm system forever, and
in terms of prospects I guess he has been since he’s exhausted all his minor
league options, and will benefit this month from the Yankees preference to call
up a third catcher every September. It looked set in stone that Gary Sanchez
was set to make his first trip to the big leagues in 2015 before a hamstring
injury possibly ended his season last week opening the door to the Bronx once
again for Romine. Can he take advantage of the opportunity and show some of the
promise and poise behind the plate that once made him one of the best Yankees
prospects in their farm system?
Austin Allen Romine was born on November 22, 1988 in Lake
Forest, California to a family that has baseball running through their veins.
Austin’s father, Kevin, played Major League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox
from 1985 to 1991 while his brother, Andrew, is currently a shortstop inside the
Detroit Tigers organization. Romine began his push towards the majors by
attending El Toro High School in Lake Forest where he played alongside current
Colorado Rockies infielder Nolan Arenado on the school’s baseball team. Romine
heard the Yankees come calling in the second round of the 2007 Major League
Baseball First Year Players Draft and quickly signed on with New York.
Romine climbed all the way to become the Yankees 4th
best prospect according to Baseball American in 2009 and the team’s 2nd
best prospect in 2010 as he began to garner recognition across the league for
his play. Romine was named the Florida State League Player of the Year in 2009
and capped that off with an All-Star Futures Game appearance in 2010 which both
led to the young catcher competing for the backup catcher’s job in spring
training 2011. Romine did not win the job out of spring but was called up to
Triple-A in September of that season before making his Major League debut just
two weeks later.
Romine could not build on the momentum he built during the
2012 season after missing most of the campaign with two bulging discs in his
back. Romine was back in the Major Leagues in 2013 after an injury to Francisco
Cervelli on April 26, 2013 and spent most of the season with the big league
club before suffering a concussion in September of that season. Romine had not
done enough to win the job from Cervelli during spring training camp in 2014
and was sent back to Triple-A where the over-grooming began for the young
catcher. Romine was called up again during the 2014 season but lasted just a
week before being sent back to Scranton to make room for starting pitcher Shane
Greene. Romine spent the entire 2014 bouncing back and forth between Scranton
and the Bronx before being designated for assignment by the club before the
2015 season.
Romine was off the 40 man roster and down in Triple-A trying
to earn his way back to the Major Leagues after losing out on the backup job in
spring training to John Ryan Murphy. It looked as if Romine had lost his job to
injury when the Yankees called up Gary Sanchez late in the 2015 season to
replace him but Romine stayed on the roster and Juan Graterol drew the short
straw and the free ride off the club’s roster. Romine has worked hard all
season and will finally be rewarded for it as a September call up for the
Yankees this season. Much like his entire career this call up could be entirely
temporary, he could get designated for assignment when Sanchez is deemed
healthy and presumably called up, but if history is any indicator of the future
Romine will work his tail off and make the best of this call up like he has
with every other opportunity he has had in his career. Welcome back Austin, go
get em!
