The past two months have been a roller coaster for the New York Yankees, but outside of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto’s brilliance, they’re getting incredible production from catcher Austin Wells, who is quickly climbing up the rankings as not only a top rookie in the American League but one of the best players at his position in 2024.
Austin Wells has been red-hot for the Yankees since June
Over his last 47 games, Wells is batting .306 and has found his power stroke, bashing eight home runs, driving in 31 RBIs and a .922 OPS. In that same span, he has the third-highest wRC+ of all MLB catchers at 121. He has since become the Yankees’ cleanup hitter and has been the exact type of protection that Soto and Judge desperately needed in the lineup.
What has made Wells so productive as a hitter is his ability to use all parts of the field when he is up at bat. He is pulling the ball over 40% of the time and has a higher fly ball rate (40.6%) than ground ball rate (34.2%), indicating that he is looking to do damage each time he steps up to the plate.
He has easily looked the most comfortable in the cleanup spot of the order in front of Soto and Judge. Entering play Friday, Wells is batting .368 with a .423 OBP and a .997 OPS in 68 at-bats cleaning up.
Wells has made big strides in his game on both sides of the ball
In addition to the hot bat, Wells has quickly improved defensively behind the plate and has demonstrated good arm strength, which is something the Yankees badly needed after Jose Trevino’s struggles with throwing runners out. Yankees manager Aaron Boone spoke about Wells’ development and is pleased to see him carve out a big-league role as a major contributor.
“He’s done a great job defensively. The bat was a little slower — at this level — to come. But once we hit about the middle of May/June, it’s been a lot of high-quality, middle-of-the-order-type of at-bats,” Boone said via The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty. (h/t Foul Territory TV) “I think that’s what everyone expected when [the Yankees] drafted him and when he was coming through the minor leagues, that this guy is going to hit. He’s showing that now.”
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Wells will continue to get the majority of the playing time for the Yankees even with Jose Trevino returning
Wells’ improvements couldn’t have came at a better time, as Trevino missed the last month with a hamstring strain. He was activated off of the injured list on Thursday, but Boone said that Wells is going to continue to get the majority of the playing time thanks to his impactful play.
“Austin’s earned the opportunity,” said Boone via Foul Territory TV. “Trevy will support him and we’ll get him in there from time to time too. I love the duo that they are and I love what Trevy brings, but Austin offensively now is starting to go to another level.”
With less than 40 games left on the schedule, getting Wells to be a massive contributor to a lineup that has had its ups and downs is huge for the Yankees as they look to nail down the AL East division and enter the postseason on a high note.