Austin Romine

Going into the 2009 season, he was rated the Yankees' fourth-best prospect and their second-best prospect for 2010, according to Baseball America. In 2009, Romine was named the Florida State League Player of the Year. In 2010, he participated in the All-Star Futures Game.

Romine missed most of the 2012 season with two bulging discs in his back. When Cervelli suffered a broken hand on April 26, 2013, the Yankees promoted him to the major leagues. On August 4, Romine hit the first home run of his Major League career off of San Diego Padres pitcher Dale Thayer. He suffered a concussion on September 10, when he was hit in the mask by a foul ball. He batted .207 for the season.

Romine's father, Kevin, played in the majors for the Boston Red Sox from 1985 to 1991. His brother, Andrew, is also a major league player. Romine and his wife Alexzandria had their first child, a son, born in 2013.

Romine competed with Cervelli and John Ryan Murphy to be the backup catcher for the Yankees in 2014 spring training, Cervelli won the job, and Romine was optioned to the minor leagues. Romine was called up several times during the 2014 season due to injuries to various players, but only appeared in seven games.

Romine was designated for assignment on April 4, 2015, and was outrighted from the 40-man roster and assigned to Scranton/Wilkes Barre on April 8. Romine batted .260 with seven home runs for the RailRiders in 2015. The Yankees promoted Romine to the major leagues on September 1. During spring training in 2016, Romine won the backup catcher competition over top catching prospect Gary Sánchez. In 2016 as the Yankees' backup catcher, Romine played in 62 games hitting .242 with 4 home runs and 26 RBI.

On October 8, Romine pitched in the top of the ninth inning in a 16–1 loss to the Boston Red Sox in Game 3 of the 2018 American League Division Series, becoming only the second position player to ever pitch in the postseason, the first since Toronto Blue Jays infielder Cliff Pennington in the 2015 American League Championship Series against the Kansas City Royals. Romine allowed two runs in in the inning by allowing a two-run home run to Brock Holt which made Holt become the first player to hit for the cycle in an MLB postseason game.

In 2017, Romine began the season as the backup to Gary Sanchez, but after an injury to Sanchez on April 8, Romine became the Yankees starting catcher until Sanchez returned at the start of May. On August 24, Romine got into an altercation with Miguel Cabrera at home plate. Cabrera shoved Romine, triggering a bench-clearing brawl, and both combatants were ejected. The next day, on August 25, Romine was suspended for two games, pending an appeal. On September 8, Romine dropped his appeal, and began serving his suspension, which was reduced to one game. He batted .218 for the season. He had the lowest batting average against left-handers among all MLB hitters (60 or more plate appearances), at .143.

Romine became the primary catcher for the Yankees after Gary Sánchez was injured in June 2018, and again re-injured in July. He was expected to serve in this role until Sánchez's return. On July 24, Romine was announced as the Yankees' "Heart and Hustle" award winner.

On December 13, 2019, Romine signed a one-year, $4.15 million contract with the Detroit Tigers.

On July 24, 2020, Romine made his Tigers debut as an Opening Day starting catcher. Overall with the 2020 Detroit Tigers, Romine batted .238 with two home runs and 17 RBIs in 37 games.

Austin Romine cashing in elsewhere could be Yankees’ mistake

Catcher Travis d’Arnaud bagging a two-year deal for $16 million from the Braves will help Austin Romine no matter where he lands. With big-game pitchers Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg heading th…