Austin Named Breakout Prospect of the Year

Tampa, Fla. - The fans have spoken and Tyler Austin was voted as the Breakout Prospect of the Year in the 2012 Minor League Baseball Year End Awards (MiLBY's). When finding out he was first nominated Austin said "I was pretty excited...I was really happy that I was put in a group of guys that were all deserving of that award."

There were twelve minor league players nominated for the award including Austin. He won the category with the majority, 18% of the votes, "I was definitely very excited when I found out that I won".

Austin started the 2012 season with the Single-A Charleston RiverDogs where he played in 70 games and maintained a .320 batting average. He hit 22 doubles, five triples, and 14 homeruns with 54 RBI. Austin joined the Tampa Yankees on July 3, 2012 and played 36 games in pinstripes. He had 43 hits, 13 doubles, one triple, and two homeruns with 23 RBI and a .321 batting average. While the TY season ended, the Double-A Trenton Thunder were heading to the post-season and Austin got the call up. In two games, he went 2 for 7 with two runs and one RBI.

Austin said, he felt "pretty good about this season, it was a good year, I have a lot of things to improve on, but overall I'm really happy about the way this year went." There is no rest for this young star as he is already preparing for the 2013 season, "I started my work-out program a few days ago, and my hitting program is going to start in the next couple days".

"Thank you everybody that was out there voting" said Austin, "for the support and being there. It was a great group of guys in the category and I just want to thank everyone for taking time out of there day to vote for me."