Yankees demote Tyler Austin | What it means

The Yankees sent down Tyler Austin following the club’s 4-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium on Thursday, June 14, 2018 (6/14/18). Austin is going down to make room on the 25-man roster for Jonathan Loaisiga, who will make his major league debut on Friday, June 15, 2018 (6/15/18).

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NEW YORK — Another big-league caliber Yankees player is heading to Triple-A.

First baseman Tyler Austin was demoted after the Yankees’ 4-3 win over the Rays at Yankee Stadium on Thursday night, the team said in a press release.

The Yankees had to make space for 23-year-old righty Jonathan Loaisiga, who will make his major-league debut when he starts Friday against Tampa Bay at home.

The team hasn’t officially put Loaisiga on the 25-man roster yet but he was at Yankee Stadium on Thursday.

How Yankees discovered Loaisiga

Why Austin was sent down: Somebody had to go. The Yankees wanted to keep utility man Ronald Torreyes over Austin, who provides no versatility. Neil Walker will serve as first baseman Greg Bird‘s new primary backup. With Austin, it was either DH or first base. It’s clear the Yankees think Walker, who has little experience at the position, is a better defender there than Austin. He was starting there while Austin was at DH on Thursday.

What Austin did: Going into Thursday, he had hit just .140 (8-for-57) in his last 16 games. He was more affective against lefties (.826 OPS, 53 AB) than righties (.691 OPS, 68 AB).

A reminder: Players have to spend 10 days in the minors before getting called back up — unless the big-league team needs to fill a spot vacated by a player going on the disabled list.

No changes for a while? The Yankees are going to give Loaisiga a shot to stay in the rotation until Masahiro Tanaka (two strained hamstrings) returns from the disabled list. So, Austin might be at Triple-A for a while.

How about this? Austin, Clint Frazier, Tyler Wade, Kyle Higashioka, Brandon Drury and Billy McKinney each could make reasonable claims they don’t deserve to be in the minors. They’re all at Triple-A for the Yankees, who have the best record in baseball at 44-20.

Brendan Kuty may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @BrendanKutyNJ. Find NJ.com Yankees on Facebook.