Caught in a season-long stoop, Austin Wells discovered himself sitting for the second time in three video games on Monday because the Yankees gained their series-opener over the Twins, 6-2.
Whereas lauded for his receiving abilities, the Bombers’ beginning catcher has been robust to observe within the batter’s field this season, as Wells is hitting simply .208/.267/.412 with 15 house runs, 56 RBI and an 84 WRC+. One of many Yankees’ extra disappointing hitters, he has been even worse since homering in three straight video games from July 5-8, slashing .156/.200/.234 over 19 contests.
“He’s been struggling a little bit, obviously, offensively,” Aaron Boone mentioned. “I do feel like he is such a capable and good hitter. We gotta get him there to where he is a key figure for us because he really lengthens our lineup when he’s right.”
With Wells on the bench Monday, Boone requested Ben Rice to catch once more. The hard-hitting sophomore ended up going 2-for-4 with a solo house run.
Rice is now hitting .235/.326/.463 with 17 homers, 38 RBI and a 120 wRC+. Whereas he started the season largely DH’ing and taking part in first, the pure catcher has been constantly getting begins behind the plate ever since Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Choose started usually occupying the DH spot.
Monday marked Rice’s sixth catching begin since July 26. He had simply 5 such begins earlier than that.
“I feel like he’s getting more and more comfortable back there,” an impressed Boone mentioned after Monday’s recreation. “I’m seeing more and more of a presence and confidence and just the game sort of slowing down for him a little bit back there.”
With that in thoughts, Rice’s bat a wanted drive within the lineup, and Wells scuffling, Boone was requested if he might see Rice doubtlessly getting the majority of the catching reps shifting ahead.
“I don’t know,” Boone replied. “We’ll see.”
Boone was clearly bored with discussing the topic on the spot, but it surely’s a good query when contrasting Wells and Rice’s offensive performances this season.
Fortuitously for Wells, he believes he is aware of precisely why he’s been so off on the plate.
Wells mentioned that this has solely been a latest downside, however he’s hitting .137 and slugging .242 in opposition to breaking balls this season, in response to Baseball Savant.
With sliders particularly, these numbers fall to .085 and .213, respectively. Sweepers, a sort of slider, have been even more durable for Wells, as he’s hitting .045 and slugging .182 in opposition to them.
For comparability, Wells has a .269 common and a .491 slugging share in opposition to fastballs, in addition to a .158 common and a .351 slugging share in opposition to offspeed pitches.
With such drastic splits, Wells mentioned that opponents have been throwing him an increasing number of breaking balls. On high of that, he mentioned he’s been urgent “a little bit,” compounding his offensive points.
“I think they are definitely aware of it,” Wells mentioned. “I feel like the first pitches of my last 40 at-bats have all been breaking balls for the most part.”
Requested what he can do to repair this downside, Wells mentioned he must get his physique in a greater place to hit sliders.
“It’s more of a feel thing, because I hit sliders every day before games,” he mentioned. “So it’s not the ability to hit it. It’s just the ability to adjust to it, in my eyes.”
Wells additionally acknowledged that his on-base share is very low. Actually, his .267 mark was the fifth-worst OBP amongst all gamers with no less than 300 at-bats getting into Monday.
Wells, who posted a .322 OPB as a rookie final 12 months and a .370 OBP over his minor league profession, famous that he might chase much less. He’s proper about that, as his chase fee has jumped from 25.5% in 2024 to 30.4% in 2025.
“But I also think that I’m making more contact than I’ve ever made before,” Wells continued. “So I think some of the balls that maybe aren’t great balls to drive that I’m swinging at are getting put in play rather than missed or fouled off. So the ability to go deeper into at-bats and maybe work a walk or something like that, I think that’s also where it comes from.”
Wells is barely making extra total contact than he did final 12 months (75.4% in 2024 vs. 75.5% in 2025), and his weak contact and barrel percentages have really improved. Nonetheless, Wells is getting below balls extra usually this season, doing so at a 35.3% clip.
One other idea is that Wells’ catching workload is negatively impacting his offense, as he’s in his first full season as a giant league starter. Nonetheless, neither Boone nor Wells subscribe to that.
Boone mentioned that each catcher has to cope with the grind of the lengthy season. He additionally mentioned that he’s tried to keep away from having Wells play three days in a row, a want made attainable with fellow catchers Rice and J.C. Escarra each on the energetic roster for a lot of the season.
“I don’t think it’s a workload thing,” Boone mentioned. “I think it’s a workload that he should be able to handle.”
Wells, who skilled some fatigue on the finish of final season, agreed wholeheartedly.
“I actually feel great,” he insisted. “I think that they’ve done a good job of managing that too. But my body feels really good. I can tell the difference right now vs. the end of last year, where I was at, and I feel normal for the most part.”
Regular, nonetheless, has not translated to offensive success for Wells. That’s going to have to vary quickly, or Boone should assume tougher about giving Rice extra begins behind the dish.
