Austin Wells Taking Things Slow in Spring Training
Says He's Not Dealing with an Injury
Catcher Austin Wells has been present at Spring Training camp every day this week. He’s been standing in the box to track pitches against the Yankees’ pitching staff but has not been swinging. Wells, however, told reporters there was no injury to report.
"Just not ready yet. I was hitting higher-speed stuff [off a machine] toward the end of this week. Just preparing for the games the week after they start. I played late, so I'm taking it a little slower,” Wells told the media on Sunday.
Wells’ statement raises one major red flag. If he feels ready to swing against high-speed pitching machines, what makes facing pitchers in a live at-bat different? Something smells fishy.
The weak depth at the catcher position behind Wells makes me question if he’s telling the truth and if the Yankees are hiding an injury. If other teams knew Wells was healthy, they might be less inclined to be a trade partner with New York. That doesn’t change the fact that the backup catcher options are slim. The top candidates are Alex Jackson, Ben Rice, and J.C. Escarra.
To make matters even more interesting, the Yankees plan to keep Wells off the field for the first week of Grapefruit League play. He played the most games of his baseball life in 2024, 115 regular season games plus the postseason. But it's not like we’re talking about a 35-year-old veteran catcher. Wells is 25 and had more than three months to rest after the conclusion of the World Series.
Wells’ statement that he’s “just not ready yet” leads me to believe there’s an injury in hiding. Furthermore, I wonder if anyone considered asking him when he thinks he could be ready to swing in live at-bats.
Wells proved himself an essential part of the lineup and provided solid defense behind the plate in 2024. Not to mention, he’s a lefty who helps break the lineup up, providing a nice balance of righties, lefties, and switch hitters.
Manager Aaron Boone will love the countless questions about an update on Wells for the rest of the week—sarcasm, of course.
More to come!