Formerly a Yankee, Tyler Austin is quickly turning into Captain American for USA Baseball.
Austin has raked at the plate throughout the 2020 Olympics to help lead the United States to the baseball gold medal game against Japan.
In the tournament, he’s hitting a team-leading .429 with a .941 slugging percentage, crushing 10 homers with 13 RBIs.
A 2020 13th-round pick of the Yankees, Austin was called up in 2016 and made quick impression, homering in his first big league at-bat.
The slugger appeared in 85 games over parts of three seasons for the Bronx Bombers before he was traded with Luis Rijo to the Twins for Lance Lynn and cash. Overall in New York, Austin slashed .230/.287/.459 with 15 home runs and 43 RBIs.
After being traded, Austin saw time with the Twins, Giants and the Brewers. After 2019, he signed with the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of the Nippon Professional Baseball Organization’s Central League in Japan. The team happens to call Yokohama Baseball Stadium — the site of the Olympics — home.
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Last season for the BayStars, Austin homered 19 times with 49 RBIs, slugging .603 in 68 games. He returned to his new home field for the semifinals against South Korea, nailing a solo shot to center.
“This is my home stadium over here,” Austin said after the game. “So I’m very familiar with the park. It’s been a fun tournament here.”
Austin will try to continue his hot streak on Saturday when Team USA team looks for redemption against Japan in the gold medal game.