Alexander Wilson

July 9, 2026

Austin Wells reacting for the Yankees at Yankee Stadium

The Yankees cannot really dress up the Austin Wells season anymore.

Chris Kirschner put the number in a brutal frame: 26,349 players have had at least 200 plate appearances in a season over the past century. Wells, sitting at a 33 wRC+ in Kirschner’s post, is currently tracking as one of the 100 worst seasons by a batter in that entire group.

Normal growing-pain stuff does not look like that. Catchers get extra rope because the defensive job is hard, but a bat can only sink for so long before the team has to stop treating it like a small inconvenience.

Austin Wells walking in from the bullpen for the Yankees — Jun 23, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; New York Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodon (55) and catcher Austin Wells walk in from the bull pen before the game against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images. Credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Wells has fallen into a brutal offensive bucket

wRC+ is useful here because it adjusts for league and park environment. A 100 mark is league average. A 33 mark means Wells has been roughly two-thirds worse than an average hitter by that measure.

The exact number can move a tick when the page refreshes, but the argument does not change much. FanGraphs has Wells sitting in the same miserable range, and the eye test has not exactly been fighting the data.

He is not chasing a mildly disappointing year anymore. He is sitting in territory that makes every empty at-bat feel heavier than the last one, especially for a team that still expects to play serious baseball in October.

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The Yankees have to separate patience from denial

The difficult part is that Wells is not some throwaway player. The Yankees invested in him, liked the left-handed power, and trusted him enough behind the plate to let him carry real responsibility. That matters, but it cannot be the whole argument.

A smaller role would not be some punishment. A platoon would not be an overreaction. A deadline addition at catcher would not be the organization quitting on him forever. It would be a team admitting the current version is hurting them too much to keep forcing it.

Wells can still be part of the long-term catching picture if the Yankees believe the defense and power will eventually level out. The 2026 version should not be treated like a normal slump, though. A 33 wRC+ after 200 plate appearances belongs in a different category, and the Yankees have to act like they know it.