Shortly after the Yankees’ 5-2 win over the Angels on Wednesday, Austin Wells was asked if he feels added responsibility protecting Aaron Judge.
“I think it’s actually helped me,” the cleanup-hitting catcher said before sitting out the second game of a doubleheader, a Yankees loss. “I feel like getting to watch [Juan] Soto and Judge right before me allows me to see a lot of pitches up close and it gives me a lot of confidence to go up there and have a quality at-bat and try to put a good swing on a good pitch. So for me, I’ve welcomed it and enjoyed it.”
Wells has been the Yankees’ go-to No. 4 hitter since July 20. Prior to Wednesday, he was hitting .340/.417/.520 with one double, one triple, two home runs and eight RBI in 13 games since taking on that role.
On Wednesday, the rookie added a double and an RBI while going 2-for-4.
“He’s just looking like a real middle of the order hitter,” Aaron Boone said, “and it’s exciting to see him continue to string together these quality at-bats.”
Wells’ success at the plate actually began before he started hitting directly after Soto and Judge, as he had a .258/.382/.532 slash line, five homers and 15 RBI in 26 games from June 6 to July 19.
That stretch also coincided with Jose Trevino landing on the injured list on July 13. The Platinum Glover’s absence has cemented Wells’ status as the Yankees’ everyday catcher.
Wells, who has also blossomed into a strong defender, said that playing everyday has given him some added confidence. But so has hitting behind MLB’s home run leader.
Judge, working on an MVP caliber campaign, has received more than a few intentional walks since the weekend. However, Wells hasn’t looked at those free passes as a sign of disrespect.
Rather, he’s seen them as opportunities.
“I mean, if I was them, I’d be walking Judge too,” Wells said. “So for me, I’m not taking it personally. But I look forward to the challenge and having a guy on base and getting a hit with Judgey on base. I’ll take that every time. So obviously we want to see him hit and do damage and hit balls over the fence. But as an opposing team, it makes sense to put him on first and attack the rest of the guys. So for us, it’s our job to get on and try to keep it going.”
That Wells is getting a chance to hit in those situations is a sign of how far his numbers have come this season.
While he was happy with his plan of attack, the 25-year-old was hitting .190 prior to June 6. The Yankees kept saying he was unlucky — advanced metrics supported that — but the results just weren’t there.
“I don’t know,” Boone said when asked what has changed with Wells, though he reasoned that his focus on learning the Yankees’ pitching staff may have dominated his focus early on. “I think this is what he is, and it just took him a minute to get it.
“Being a catcher in the major leagues is not an easy thing to do, and when you’re a rookie catcher and you’re coming into a veteran-laden staff, you gotta handle that side of the ball first. I think he’s been so committed to that side of the ball, maybe it took a minute for the offense to catch up a little bit, but it certainly has.”
Asked if anything has changed, Wells said no.
While he admitted it was difficult to avoid a desire to tinker when things weren’t breaking his way, Wells stayed true to his process and mechanics.
“It’s hard to not try and switch it up when you’re hitting balls at guys,” he said. “But for me, I knew that the game is such a big ebb and flow, up and down game. So I trusted that my process and the work we were doing here would even out.”
It now appears Wells was right in his approach. As a result, the Yankees have themselves a cleanup hitter they can count on when teams want to put Judge on base.
