How Cubs' Tyler Austin made his MLB comeback after six seasons in Japan

When Tyler Austin first decided to take his career overseas, he didn’t expect to spend six seasons in Japan.

“The decision was just to play every day, ultimately,” he said in a phone interview this week. “I'm coming from four different organizations, kind of up and down, designated here, designated there. So I wanted to give myself an opportunity to play every day and prove that I can play every day.”

Six years later, Austin is making his MLB comeback, after signing a one-year deal with the Cubs last month – though it’s a split contract, he doesn’t have minor-league options left. Cubs manager Craig Counsell often says that teams need surprises to have great seasons. On an under-the-radar contract, Austin has the potential to be one of those surprises.

Reclamation stories through stops in Japan or South Korea are becoming more common. But not many include such a long MLB hiatus. With the Cubs looking to improve their bench, Austin, a first baseman and outfielder, was the team’s first and so far only outside addition to the position-player group this offseason.

“I was hoping for an opportunity,” Austin said. “And luckily that the Cubs reached out, and we were able to come up with an agreement. So pretty excited about it.”

Austin began his professional career in 2010, drafted out of high school by the Yankees in the 13th round. A highly ranked prospect as he rose through the Yankees’ system, Austin debuted in 2016.

Over the next four years, he’d play for the Yankees, Twins, Giants and Brewers – where now-Cubs manager Craig Counsell was at the helm. Austin’s best season was 2018, when he hit 17 home runs in 268 plate appearances. But at-bats were harder to come by the next year, as he bounced around the league.

After declining an outright assignment to Triple-A in November, 2019, he took a leap and signed with Nippon Professional Baseball’s Yokohama DeNa BayStars.

“When I got there, I fell in love with the place,” Austin said. “My wife fell in love with the place. The people are amazing. The baseball over there is phenomenal. So it was a pretty easy decision to stay over there.”

Austin thrived in NPB, posting a .945 OPS over six seasons. He significantly cut down his swing-and-miss. And as he developed, he witnessed the evolution of a league that recently has been producing top MLB free agents year in and year out.

The biggest change he noticed was more of an embrace of weightlifting – an early trend scouts have observed especially among younger hitters – to go with the flexibility and mobility programs that have been a hallmark of the league.

“It's translating very, very well,” Austin said. “Guys are getting bigger, stronger, faster. And you're going to start seeing a lot more of those guys coming up here.”

Austin also battled a series of injuries, most notably three surgeries that limited his availability in 2022 and 2023 to 94 games total.

First, Austin told the Sun-Times, he underwent an operation to remove a bone spur that had broken off in his right elbow. During his throwing program, damage to his ulnar collateral ligament in that same elbow cropped up, and he had the ligament reinforced with an internal brace.

The next year, a week away from a new throwing program, he hurt his shoulder sliding head first into home and underwent a surgical cleanup. Austin described all three surgeries as “nothing major,” but they were starting to add up.

“There were times where I definitely didn't think that I would have an opportunity to come back over here – much less play at all again,” Austin said. “Just because my body, I thought, was falling apart on me.”

Austin bounced back with a strong 2024 season. But he worried that a calf strain and minor knee injury in 2025 might suppress his free agent market this winter. The Cubs still saw potential.

“To be completely honest with you, it was back and forth,” Austin said of his decision last month. “Do I want to go back to Japan and finish out over there? Because it's an incredible place, incredible country, I really enjoy playing baseball over there. So my wife and I had to sit down, and we really weighed our options on what was best for us right now.”

The opportunity to have his family in the stands again helped tip the scales.

“Obviously, it's extremely exciting,” Austin said of joining the Cubs. “I'm very grateful and humbled by the opportunity.”

Austin will get his first introduction to the Cubs fan base Jan. 16-18 at Cubs Convention. And though he played with Shota Imanaga in Japan, and is familiar with Seiya Suzuki, Dansby Swanson and Ian Happ from matchups against them, it will be his first time getting to know many of his new teammates.

Austin said he’s already connected with the coaching staff. But they haven’t yet discussed his exact role.

As demonstrated Wednesday when the Cubs acquired right-hander Edward Cabrera from the Marlins for a trade package that included top prospect Owen Caissie, the roster could still change between now and spring training. Then the answers to those questions take shape.

“I'm going over there to leave it all out on the field like I have my whole career,” he said, “day in and day out.”