How Yankees catcher Austin Wells went from platoon player to Rookie of the Year contender

At 84-62, the New York Yankees have a 1 1/2-game lead over the Baltimore Orioles in the AL East with only 16 games to play. Those two teams will play a three-game series at Yankee Stadium from Sept. 24-26, so the division race is far from over, but the Yankees are in good position at the moment. Take care of business and the division is theirs.

The Yankees are in first place because of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto, first and foremost. Judge (217 OPS+) and Soto (179 OPS+) have been the two best hitters in baseball this season. When you start your lineup with those two, you’re in great shape. It’s also helped that young Luis Gil and (when healthy) Clarke Schmidt have stabilized the rotation.

Another reason the Yankees are in first place? Austin Wells. The rookie backstop has emerged as a bona fide middle of the order force while also playing strong defense. On Monday, he clubbed a go-ahead three-run home run against the Kansas City Royals and on Wednesday he provided a game-tying sacrifice fly in the tenth inning, both crucial plays in wins.

“I’m not impressed because I knew what he’s capable of,” the recently promoted Jasson Domínguez said about Wells following Monday’s game (via NJ.com). “But obviously he’s doing great. I mean, that homer today? It was insane.”

For the season, Wells owns a .252/.341/.437 batting line with 13 home runs, far above the .235/.300/.383 MLB average for catchers. He’s struck out in only 20.7% of his plate appearances, better than the 22.5% league average. Wells has put himself in the Rookie of the Year conversation. Here is the American League rookie WAR leaderboard (per FanGraphs):

1. Austin Wells, Yankees: 3.6 WAR
2. Colton Cowser, Orioles: 3.6 WAR
3. Wilyer Abreu, Red Sox: 3.0 WAR
4. Luis Gil, Yankees: 2.5 WAR
5. Cade Smith, Guardians: 2.4 WAR

Wells is outhitting Cowser, who owns a .243/.325/.438 slash line, and he’s tied him in WAR despite having 145 fewer plate appearances. It wasn’t until Jose Trevino suffered a quad strain on July 12 that Wells was given the opportunity to be the No. 1 catcher and he’s run with it. Since Trevino’s injury, Wells has started 37 of New York’s 50 games.

“I think Austin is right at the top. Certainly worthy of it,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said about the Rookie of the Year race earlier this week. “He’s been outstanding. He’s been such a key cog in our lineup, in the middle of the order for the last few months. Really coming into his own as a hitter. And all the while doing it at such a critical position where I think he’s handling himself so well behind the plate defensively. When you add what he brings to the table hitting fourth in our lineup, it’s been a phenomenal rookie season for him.”

Wells is not an out-of-nowhere success story. The 25-year-old was New York’s first-round pick in 2020 and Baseball America ranked him as a top-100 prospect in both 2023 and 2024. He certainly has pedigree. Still, the learning curve at catcher is steep, and few rookie catchers step right into lineup and produce immediately. When they do, it’s a massive player development win.

Here is what you need to know about Wells and his breakout season as he’s become the rare under-the-radar Yankee.

His bat has come alive

Wells, a left-handed hitter, and Trevino, a righty, were in a strict platoon early in the season and Wells did not perform in that role. He hit .196/.338/.294 in April and .204/.292/.306 through the end of May. Even during that slow start, Wells put up impressive exit velocities and contact rates. His season began to turn around in early June when he started to pull the ball. Take a look:

Pulling the ball leads to great results in general and that goes double for left-handed hitters in Yankee Stadium. It is worth noting though that Wells has been very productive both at home (.262/.367/.433 with five homers) and on the road (.244/.318/.440 with eight homers). He’s not simply a product of Yankee Stadium’s short right field porch. It helps though, for sure.

Since the admittedly arbitrary date of June 6, Wells is slashing .284/.371/.515 with 12 home runs in 241 plate appearances. Set the minimum to 300 plate appearances and Wells ranks eighth among catchers in batting average, sixth in on-base percentage, and eighth in slugging percentage. He’s been one of the 10 best hitting catchers in the game as a rookie. That’s impressive.