New York Yankees: Why did the Yankees pick Catcher Austin Wells in the MLB Draft?

The New York Yankees surprised many sportswriters, including this one, when they selected Austin Wells in the first round of the 2020 MLB Draft. Most writers before the draft zoned in on Carson Tucker and Justin Foscue and a few others to be Yankee targets.  With James Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka becoming free agents, and Luis Severino out for the season, you might have assumed they would go after a pitcher for depth. So why did the Yankees select the catcher Wells whose backstop abilities are suspect?  It wasn’t to add another catcher; it is because he is a left-handed power bat, which the Yankees direly need.

The pick of Austin Wells probably shouldn’t have been a surprise because the Yankees went after him in the draft three years ago when he was at Las Vegas High School.  Wells chose college instead and enrolled at the University of Arizona, where he has honed his skills and has proven to be a powerful left-hand hitter.  This could be a huge win for the Yankees because if he doesn’t work out as a catcher, he also has played in the outfield and at first base, keeping his bat in the lineup.

With his plate discipline and left-hand power it is very possible that Wells may be on the superhighway to the majors.  The Yankees have until August 1 to sign him.  Wells is 6′ 2″ 220 pounds, is a 20-year-old star. It has been said that Austin Wells plays with the same intensity as Bryce Harper who was out of the same Las Vegas high school.

Yankees vice president of amateur scouting Damon Oppenheimer along with other scouts throughout baseball have been working mostly in the dark with no college ball being played.  He has used tapes and discussions this year to decide on draft picks.  Oppenheimer said of Wells:

“We are very happy to get Austin Wells today. “We thought he was one of the top hit-and-power combinations in the draft. We love his desire and makeup, along with his athleticism. We have known him for years and seen him progress quite a bit behind the plate to allow us to believe he can be an impact guy.”

Now in his second year at the University of Arizona, he has received 16 honors and awards.

• 2020 Pac-12 Spring Academic Honor Roll
• 2020 Collegiate Baseball Second-Team All-American
• 2020 Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award watch list
• 2020 Pac-12 Player of the Week (2/18)
• 2020 NCBWA Third-Team Preseason All-American
• 2020 Baseball America Second-Team Preseason All-American
• 2020 D1Baseball Second-Team Preseason All-American
• 2020 Perfect Game Second-Team Preseason All-American
• 2020 Collegiate Baseball Second-Team Preseason All-American
• 2019 Pac-12 Freshman of the Year
• 2019 Pac-12 All-Conference Honorable Mention
• 2019 D1Baseball First-Team Freshmen All-American
• 2019 Baseball America First-Team Freshmen All-American
• 2019 Collegiate Baseball Freshmen All-American
• 2019 NCBWA First-Team Freshman All-American
• 2019 Perfect Game/Rawlings Freshmen All-American
• 2019 Cape Cod League All-Star (starter)
• 2019 Cape Cod League Outstanding Pro Prospect
• 2019 Arizona Summer Player of the Year

Like New York Yankees Aaron Judge before him, Austin Wells played in the 2019 summer Cape Cod League.  While at Cape Cod, he played in 42 regular-season games…Earned Cape Cod League’s Outstanding Pro Prospect Award at the conclusion of the season.  He hit .308 with 23 runs scored, 13 doubles, seven home runs, and 26 RBI.  He also was the starting catcher in the Cape Cod All-Star game.

In this shortened coronavirus season at Arizona, he played in all 15 games. He hit .375 with 12 runs scored, six doubles, two home runs, and 14 RBI. His season highlight includes a strong plate discipline that allowed him more walks than strikeouts.  On March 7, he had a four-hit game.  He was the club’s everyday catcher in 12 games while playing in the outfield once and serving as DH in two games. He had only one passed ball while achieving a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage over a team-leading 121 chances.

With the pick of Austin Wells, the Yankees could just have their next Aaron Judge or Giancarlo Stanton behind the plate in one way or the other.  Whatever the case he might have a very bright future with the Yankee organization.

When in the offseason, the New York Yankees signed star ace pitcher Gerrit Cole.  In doing so, they lost their 2nd, and 5th round picks in this year’s draft.  Today with the draft shortened from 40 rounds to just five, they will make their 3rd and 4th round picks.  Count on EmpireSportsMedia.com to keep you informed as the draft progresses.