First baseman/outfielder Tyler Austin recently underwent a debridement procedure on the patellar tendon in his right knee, which will leave him sidelined for “months,” Cubs skipper Craig Counsell announced to the team’s beat this morning (link via Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times). That suggests he’ll be a 60-day IL candidate the next time Chicago needs a 40-man roster spot.
Austin, 34, has spent the past six seasons with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. He originally signed in NPB after spending parts of four big league seasons with the Yankees, Twins, Giants and Brewers, during which he posted a .219/.292/.451 slash with 33 homers in 583 turns at the plate.
While Austin showed plenty of power over his relatively limited MLB tenure, he was far too prone to strikeouts, fanning in a grisly 36.9% of his career plate appearances in the majors. He’s radically cut down on his strikeouts in Japan and has been especially productive the past two seasons, combining for a .299/.370/.559 slash with a 10.3% walk rate against a 19.2% strikeout rate.
Clearly, Austin is not facing as strong of competition in NPB as he would in MLB, but it’s still a notably more encouraging strikeout rate. Even it can be reasonably expected to climb several points back in North American ball, it’s unlikely to practically double; Austin seems to have made some clear gains in terms of contact and pitch selection.
For now, the well-traveled veteran’s MLB comeback will be on hold. The Cubs signed him to a one-year, $1.25MM contract over the winter, putting him on the 40-man roster in the process. The hope was that he could spell Michael Busch against tough lefties after Busch hit just .207/.274/.368 in left-on-left matchups this past season (and .230/.295/.366 in his career). Austin also has plenty of corner outfield experience and could’ve made occasional appearances there or at designated hitter versus southpaws.
Perhaps that role will still be waiting for him when he’s sufficiently rehabbed this knee injury, but a firm timetable is tougher to ascertain. In the meantime, non-roster invitees like Chas McCormick, Dylan Carlson and Michael Conforto now stand a better chance of breaking camp with the club.
Counsell also revealed that lefty Jordan Wicks has been slowed by forearm inflammation, but the team has already ordered an MRI which did not show structural damage to the southpaw’s ulnar collateral ligament. It’s unclear when he’ll get into games.
The 26-year-old Wicks is a former first-round pick and top prospect but has been pushed way down the depth chart for the Cubs, who’ll open the season with Edward Cabrera, Cade Horton, Matthew Boyd, Jameson Taillon and Shota Imanaga in the rotation. Righty Colin Rea is back to hold down a swing role and could get the first crack at spot starts as needed. The Cubs also have Javier Assad and Ben Brown on the active roster, while ace Justin Steele should be back from last year’s UCL repair at some point in the season’s first few months, barring setbacks.
Wicks is somewhere around eighth or ninth on the rotation depth chart at the moment. He pitched only out of the bullpen in the majors last year (8 1/3 innings), and that role might give him a better crack at eventually carving out some staying power on the big league roster. He’s pitched 95 big league innings across the past three seasons and owns a lackluster 5.21 earned run average with a sub-par 18.5% strikeout rate but solid walk and ground-ball rates of 7.5% and 43%, respectively. He notched a 3.55 ERA, 26.1% strikeout rate and 7.8% walk rate in 71 Triple-A frames last year (16 starts, four relief appearances).
That sucks hope he can at least play half of the year. Not that surprising though considering how much he got hurt over in Japan.
Forgot he was still even playing.
I feel for anyone with knee problems. Been done, done that, got several T-shirts.
Just awful. Feel so bad for him.
Agreed. Worked hard to come back and this happens.
The idea that Austin was ever actually going to play for the Cubs always has had a kind of never-never-land quality to it. What a weird signing that was, even by Hoyer standards. I’m sorry he’s hurt for his sake, but glad the Cubs can move past this mistake now and concentrate on more realistic roster options.
Roll of the dice… Kind of a low risk/potential high reward, but nothing lost if it didn’t pan out scenario.
Kudos for guessing earlier this week that Austin was out of the picture.
I don’t know his current skill set well enough to know if he is a useful piece or not. Hoping Shaw or Ballesteros could get some reps at 1B during ST. Busch should have a good year.
It explains the Conforto signing..
Conforto did briefly play 1B at Oregon State.
Both Busch and Jonathan Long crush righties and need some rest against lefties.
That was obviously a physical that was missed badly. Steerike one. Guess his medical records were in Japanese.
Shaw can handle Justin Turner’s role as RH 1B/3B backup. This opens the door for two of the group of Conforto/McCormick/Carlson to make the opening day roster
I don’t see Shaw as a 1B backup, but certainly 2B/3B/OF. None of the other three you mention, presumably, as OF backup options have any experience at 1B either. I’m guessing Long may be leaned on to some capacity later in the season if they can’t get an established part-time RH 1B. Ballesteros may be an option at 1B, but not in a platoon scenario.
Carlson and McCormick can play CF. Conforto cannot. Would like to see Shaw, Ballesteros or Kevin Alcantara learn some 1B.
Not sure any of that makes sense for deploying these players in 2026. Alcantara has no future as a 1B considering his athleticism, but can hold down CF. If the Cubs add a veteran CF backup to the major league roster Alcantara may be destined for AAA again. Shaw, as a 1b? Poor allocation of his glove. Ballesteros can play 1B, but he’s a lefty bat, so doesn’t serve the purpose as a platoon option with Busch.
My logic is that Shaw will be on the roster anyhow and if Alcantara makes the roster his main role is a backup CF, but the versatility could be useful.
Long
@Duke: He’s hurt too, at least right now.
Duke…he’s leaving to join his Chinese Taipei teammates (????) for the WBC so I’m thinking he will be just fine in a day or so.
Remember when him and Judge went back-to-back in 2016 for their first career home runs?
he and Judge. Subject pronoun.
Good catch there, unlike Judge in the 5th Inning of Game 5.
He and Judge. Begin a sentence with a capital letter.
A nice adjustment, unlike Anthony Volpe on defense.
@mike: I made the h lower-case on purpose, because “he and Judge” is NOT a complete sentence.
Alan, fair enough! I do agree.
What are the rules if you use your phone like it’s a text? Does it count pretending we are 11 years old?
His nibs and Judge’s nibs
I can’t believe Tyler Austin is 34. Sheesh.
Johnathan Long is the right guy spell Busch and build his stock for mid season trade
Joe Kelly’s bff?
I think Wilmer Flores is still available. He had 71 RBIs last year–one fewer than Tucker, btw.
RBI totals will not be an evaluation factor to offering Flores a contract.
How much does Cubs lose on this FA signing?
Contract was reported as $1.25M for time in the majors and $400,000 for time in the minors.
Seems like 60 day IL candidate which qualifies as major league time, so at the most $1.25 M…or in baseball terms…not much.
Read
This is where Nick Castellanos would’ve been a good bench piece. I guess Michael Conforto is a decent consolation prize to missing out on Castellanos
FFS
Jonathan Long all day and twice on Sunday. He should have had the job to start the season but they keep looking the other way when promoting him looks like the right move. He didn’t win minor league player of the year for nothing. Hopefully his elbow is alright after that errant throw by Pedro Lopez, I think. Nevertheless, go Cubs.
I did not pay much attention when the Cubs sign this guy. What am I missing here? I’m serious. Did the Cubs know he was gonna have a knee problem? I read what he signed for and that’s not much money for a major league player but just looking at what happened here it seems crazy.
Wicks is very good;in Strat.
This certainly smells like a pre-existing condition. If true, that means either the Cubs missed it – or he successfully hid it.
Just a reminder that it only took $4M for the Yankees to keep Goldschmidt as the RH half of a 1B platoon.
Well another great job by the medical staff upon physicals. Not to mention off the dumpster pile.
Hoyer ever going to learn that you cant go into a 162 game season with a bench of misfits . Every year the bench is the weakest part and kills the team in august and September cuz they cant give a guy rest all year.