The first three hitters of the New York Yankees lineup can wake up feelings of fear in any pitching staff: Juan Soto and Aaron Judge hit 99 home runs between the two of them, and Gleyber Torres, the leadoff hitter, had a notable surge in the second half that took his OPS to .708 after spending most of the year in the .600s.
Their cleanup hitter for much of the second half, Austin Wells, didn’t quite have a good month to close out his season. The young catcher posted a mediocre .411 OPS in September, which might cost him the AL Rookie of the Year award.
He was good in the rest of the season and particularly productive in July and August, which led to a .717 OPS overall. That, for a catcher, is not bad at all, especially one that earned positive reviews in the defensive and game-calling departments.
Yankees manager is showing his faith in Wells
Wells won the Yankees’ cleanup gig fair and square in the summer months, providing solutions at the spot when nobody else could protect Judge. Now that there is increased pressure and expectations, manager Aaron Boone let the world know that he is sticking with his talented rookie at that critical fourth spot in the lineup.
“Austin Wells will remain Yankees’ clean-up hitter despite his September struggles, Aaron Boone said,” Chris Kirschner of The Athletic reported on Friday during Boone’s press conference.
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Wells hit .252/.329/.430 with a solid .759 OPS from the cleanup spot this year, right behind Judge. If he can replicate those numbers at the big stage, the Yankees offense will probably be in good shape.
Perhaps he just needed a few days of rest to hit the reset button offensively and overcome his ugly September slump. In any case, Boone won’t be hitting him lower in a shocking but deserved leap of faith.