Austin Wells’ tenure because the Yankees leadoff hitter bought off to a powerful begin.
Wells — the primary catcher within the Yankees’ 123-year historical past to start out a recreation within the leadoff spot — crushed a house run in his first at-bat in Thursday’s 4-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Opening Day within the Bronx.
With the 348-foot blast off of Freddy Peralta, Wells turned the primary catcher in MLB historical past to hit a leadoff homer on Opening Day.
“I’m obviously not playing to break records, but it’s pretty cool to hear that,” Wells, 25, stated.
He additionally turned the primary Yankee at any place to hit an Opening Day leadoff homer.
Thursday marked the 18,927th recreation in Yankees historical past however the very first with a catcher atop the batting order.
Wells, who hit .229 with one stolen base as a rookie final yr, doesn’t match the profile of a prototypical leadoff hitter, however the offseason departure of Gleyber Torres left a void within the No. 1 spot within the Yankees’ lineup.
“[Wells] was one of the guys in the winter that I thought of, but when I said that at the start of camp, there were really six or seven guys in my mind, and frankly there still are,” supervisor Aaron Boone stated.
Wells hit 13 house runs with a .322 on-base proportion final season and completed third in American League Rookie of the 12 months voting.
The Yankees used him within the cleanup spot in 38 video games, offering safety behind Aaron Choose, whom he batted in entrance of Thursday.
“We’ve been seeing it all spring,” Choose stated of Wells. “The guy came into camp ready to go, had an impressive spring training, and then he just continued on into today.”
Wells hit six house runs in spring coaching, all from the leadoff spot. 4 of these homers got here within the first inning, together with in his first plate look because the leadoff hitter.
“I think that’s where he is as a hitter now,” Boone stated. “I think, really, he’s a lot more advanced, and I think he’s gonna take another step from last year.”
Initially Printed: March 27, 2025 at 3:47 PM EDT
