The Chris Carter experiment is over.
The Yankees designated the struggling first baseman for assignment and recalled Tyler Austin from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after Carter struck out three more times in Friday’s 2-1, 10-inning win over the Rangers at Yankee Stadium.
Carter was signed in February to provide protection in case Greg Bird couldn’t hold down the everyday first base job, but Bird suffered a bone bruise to his right ankle near the end of spring training and Austin suffered a fractured foot.
While the Yankees cross their fingers that the cortisone shot Bird received to get rid of the inflammation in his right ankle works, they will now turn to Austin, who has been on a hot streak at Triple-A.
Austin entered Friday having homered in three straight games, but also striking out 31 times in just 106 plate appearances.
He went 2-for-4 with a double on Friday for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
The Yankees have gotten very little production from the position this season — which is why they are holding out hope Bird can get healthy, and stay that way — and return to the form he showed when he came up to the majors in the second half of 2015 and excelled.
Bird should know whether the shot worked by the end of the weekend.
Jacoby Ellsbury took full batting practice for the third straight day — one day after passing a concussion test clearing him to play.
If all continues to go well for the center fielder, Joe Girardi said he should be able to go on a minor league rehab stint soon — which would leave the manager with some decisions to make.
And Girardi made it clear all four outfielders would get regular playing time whenever Ellsbury comes back.
“We’re going to keep rotating our outfielders because it’ll benefit all of them,” Girardi said. “I’ll give them all some days off and play them all. We’ll see who’s rolling and play well and go by that.”
Aaron Hicks has developed into one of the team’s top offensive players, meaning he’ll continue to play on a regular basis, along with Brett Gardner in left and Aaron Judge in right.
“I think we’ve got to see how Jacoby is doing [when he returns],” Girardi said. “I think I’ll spell guys more often. Guys will play all the time and they can DH one day if Matt [Holliday] needs a day or him he’s at first [base]. There’s a lot of things you can do.”
Ellsbury’s return could help Gardner in particular. Girardi has had to play Girardi more often than he’d like and that may have played a role in his recent slip in production.
In 27 games since Ellsbury suffered the concussion crashing into the center field fence on May 24, Gardner entered Friday just 26-for-113 and his OPS had dropped from .900 to .807.
Gardner did have a big game-tying homer in the Yankees’ win on Friday night.
CC Sabathia remains confident his strained left hamstring won’t keep him out much longer. Luis Cessa will start Saturday in his place.