All is properly for Austin Wells on the plate proper now.
The Yankees catcher achieved a pair of non-public bests along with his two-run residence run within the sixth inning of Tuesday night time’s 10-3 win over the Seattle Mariners within the Bronx.
The house run was Wells’ 14th of the season, setting a brand new profession excessive, and marked the primary time he has homered in three consecutive video games.
Tuesday night time’s no-doubter towards Mariners reliever Casey Legumina had an exit velocity of 107.2 mph and traveled 414 ft into the right-field bleachers.
“This is what he’s capable of,” supervisor Aaron Boone mentioned.
Wells’ 14th residence run got here in his 274th plate look, considerably exceeding final 12 months’s tempo, when he hit 13 homers in 414 plate appearances as a rookie.
“I definitely don’t try to do that,” Wells mentioned. “I try to be in the gaps and get some hits and get on base a little bit more often, but that’s nice when they do come.”
Wells, 25, completed Tuesday with 50 RBI, which ranked fourth amongst MLB catchers and had been solely two behind second place. The chief on the place, Seattle’s Cal Raleigh, additionally homered in Tuesday’s sport, giving him 36 residence runs and 76 RBI in what has been a historic first half.
Wells is on tempo for 25 residence runs and 89 RBI.
The current energy surge follows a 15-game stretch from June 11 to July 3 through which Wells went 8-for-48 (.167) and not using a residence run. Wells missed three consecutive video games throughout that timeline on account of a circulatory subject in his left index finger.
“Just getting some good pitches to hit, giving myself a little bit more time to see the ball,” Wells mentioned.
By the top of June, Wells’ common had dropped to .214, whereas his OPS was all the way down to .699. However over the 4 video games that adopted, Wells’ common rose to .221 whereas his OPS jumped to .743.
“When he gets it going at the plate, to have a catcher be able to swing the bat like he’s capable of, with the power, I just feel like he’s been getting good pitches to hit,” Boone mentioned.
“That’s what it starts with. Maybe his move, his load, is a little bit better, getting him into stronger positions, but he’s hit four or five balls now on the screws the last couple of times out, which is encouraging to see.”
Every of Wells’ three homers to start July had an exit velocity exceeding 102 mph and traveled not less than 372 ft.
The lefty-swinging Wells’ common exit velocity of 91.0 mph and hard-hit fee of 49.2% are each above common amongst MLB hitters and are markedly up from final season.
“He stays behind the ball, gets good lift,” mentioned Giancarlo Stanton, who mentioned Wells could make issues appear “easy” within the batter’s field.
“You saw how far that ball went tonight,” added Stanton, MLB’s lively residence run chief. “When he’s clicking, it’s fun to watch.”
