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Player Outlook
Austin Wells had a breakout full-season debut to the point where he was hitting cleanup for the Yankees down the stretch of the season. Wells had a history of strong strike-zone judgement in the minors, as he was always willing to accept walks and pull homers, but his rookie debut in 2023 lacked the plate discipline. The 2024 season was a return to that discipline with stellar defense behind the plate led by stellar framing work. Wells did better at the plate as the season went on with a 113 wRC+ in the second half compared to a 97 wRC+ in the first half (100 is average). Eight of his 13 homers came on the road, which dispels the assumption the lefty took advantage of the short porch at Yankee Stadium. Wells did have extreme troubles against lefty pitchers though with a 59 wRC+. The Yankees did attempt to limit his exposure to lefties throughout the season, but two extra base hits in 77 plate appearances against lefties outlines the hard cap on Wells's upside. His defensive framing and blocking endears him to the pitchers, but overexposure to lefties will hurt his overall fantasy production. Wells is not another Matt Nokes, but there's also a case here where Wells follows a Kevin Maas path at the plate, which was fun while it lasted.

Fantasy Stats

Year fpts
Fantasy Points
fpts/g
Fantasy Points per Game
r
Runs
hr
Home Runs
rbi
Runs Batted In
bb
Base on Balls (Walk)
sb
Stolen Bases
avg
Batting Average
2025 .000
2024 245.52.1 42 13 55 47 1 .229
2023 512.7 8 4 13 3 .229
3y Avg. 1442.1 25 8 34 25 0 .226
Projections Powered by
Fantasy Performance by Week
77%
Roster
57%
Start
#11
C Rank

Fantasy News

  • Yankees' Austin Wells: Swats third spring long ball

    Wells went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Monday's Grapefruit League win over the Tigers. Wells batted leadoff in the contest, which he's been doing often this spring and may end up doing during the regular season. The 25-year-old catcher has been blistering the ball in that role in Grapefruit League action, leading off the Yankees' half of the first inning with a home run on three occasions. Wells is slashing .368/.400/.895 overall this spring and could be primed for a breakout after posting a .717 OPS over 414 regular-season plate appearances in his first full campaign in the majors last year.
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  • Yankees' Austin Wells: Could lead off this season

    Wells is a candidate to bat leadoff for the Yankees during the 2025 campaign, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports. Wells and Jazz Chisholm have been getting most of the reps in the leadoff spot this spring, and Yankees manager Aaron Boone has indicated that both players are being considered for the role come the regular season. While Wells' lack of speed and .229 batting average to this point in his big-league career aren't typical of a leadoff hitter, he has shown an acumen for getting on base, frequently recording double-digit walk rates in the minors and posting an 11.4 percent walk rate over 414 plate appearances with the big club last year. Hoch notes that the Yankees have never had a catcher bat leadoff in a regular-season game over the long history of the franchise.
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  • Yankees' Austin Wells: Starting Wednesday's exhibition

    Wells is in the lineup for Wednesday's Grapefruit League game against the Cardinals, starting at catcher and batting fifth, Erik Boland of Newsday reports. The Yankees had previously disclosed a plan to keep Wells out of spring games until March 1, but the catcher will end up making his Grapefruit League debut a bit earlier than expected. In his age-24 campaign, Wells slashed .229/.322/.395 with 13 homers and 55 RBI across 414 regular-season plate appearances, and he should shoulder even more of the workload behind the plate in 2025, if healthy.
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  • Yankees' Austin Wells: No games until March 1

    Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Monday that Wells won't make his Grapefruit League debut until March 1 due to the catcher's heavy workload last season, Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News reports. Wells played 129 games last season between the regular season and playoffs, so it makes sense for the Yankees to slow play the 25-year-old's entry into the spring lineup. The catcher has been taking live at-bats but has not yet swung the bat early on in camp. Given the uncertainty the Yankees have behind him on the catcher depth chart, Wells could see an even heavier workload in 2025.
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  • Yankees' Austin Wells: Hits key Game 4 home run

    Wells went 2-for-3 with a home run and a walk in Tuesday's 11-4 win over Los Angeles in Game 4 of the World Series. Wells hit his second-deck solo shot with the Yankees up 5-4 in the sixth inning. The Yankees tacked on five more runs and cruised to victory. Los Angeles now leads the series 3-1 and will have a chance to close things out in Game 5 on Wednesday.
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  • Yankees' Austin Wells: Out of Game 3 lineup

    Wells is not in the lineup Monday for Game 3 of the World Series versus the Dodgers. The Yankees will give the righty-hitting Jose Trevino a start at catcher even as the Dodgers send right-hander Walker Buehler to the bump. Wells is just 4-for-41 with 18 strikeouts so far this postseason.
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  • Yankees' Austin Wells: Not starting Friday's game

    Wells is not in the lineup for Friday's contest against the Pirates. Wells is getting a breather after starting each of the previous four games. Jose Trevino is catching and batting eighth for the Yankees in the series opener.
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  • Yankees' Austin Wells: Not starting versus southpaw

    Wells isn't in the Yankees' lineup for Saturday's game against the Athletics. Wells went 0-for-5 with a strikeout during Friday's series opener and will now take a seat against the left-handed JP Sears. Jose Trevino will fill in as New York's catcher and bat ninth.
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  • Yankees' Austin Wells: Getting breather Thursday

    Wells isn't in the Yankees' lineup Thursday versus the Mariners. Wells will take a seat for Thursday's series finale after going 1-for-8 with three RBI and five strikeouts across the first two games. While he sits, Jose Trevino will catch for right-hander Clarke Schmidt while batting eighth.
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  • Yankees' Austin Wells: Receiving breather Sunday

    Wells is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Red Sox. Wells worked behind the plate in the first three games of the series and will receive a break in the finale after going 1-for-11 with a walk and four strikeouts. Jose Trevino will do the catching for lefty Carlos Rodon.
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  • Yankees' Austin Wells: Getting breather Wednesday

    Wells is not in the lineup for Wednesday's game versus the Royals. Wells had made five straight starts, but he'll begin Wednesday's series finale on the bench. Jose Trevino will handle catching duties and bat ninth for New York.
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  • Yankees' Austin Wells: Plates two runs in return

    Wells went 1-for-3 with a walk and two RBI in Friday's 3-0 win against the Cubs. Wells returned from a two-game absence after taking a hit-by-pitch on the hand Monday. The backstop accounted for the bulk of New York's scoring Friday with a two-run single in the third inning. Now that he's back in action, Wells will likely start behind the plate most of the time when the Yankees face right-handed starters while Jose Trevino is expected to get the call against most southpaws.
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  • Yankees' Austin Wells: Held out Wednesday

    Wells (hand) remains out of the lineup for Wednesday's contest against the Rangers. Wells has now missed two starts in a row after being hit on the right hand by a pitch Monday. X-rays came back negative and he is likely aiming for a return Friday versus the Cubs following a team off day Thursday. Jose Trevino will do the catching again for the Yankees in Wednesday's series finale.
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  • Yankees' Austin Wells: Exits starting nine

    Wells is not in the lineup for Tuesday's contest against the Rangers. With southpaw Andrew Heaney on the hill for Texas, Wells will grab a seat. Jose Trevino is doing the catching for the Yankees.
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  • Yankees' Austin Wells: Slugs pair of two-run homers

    Wells went 2-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI in Friday's 6-3 victory over St. Louis. The Yankees backstop extended his team's lead to 4-2 when he launched a 399-foot, two-run homer off Erick Fedde in the third inning. Wells later cracked another two-run homer in the eighth inning, launching it 413 feet off reliever Riley O'Brien to secure his first career multi-homer game. The 25-year-old has been one of the hottest catchers in the league coming out of the All-Star break, hitting .318 (35-for-110) with six homers, 22 RBI and 11 runs scored across his last 32 games.
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  • Yankees' Austin Wells: On bench versus lefty

    Wells is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Rockies. For the second time in the series, Wells will give way to platoon mate Jose Trevino behind the dish while southpaw Austin Gomber toes the rubber for the Rockies. Wells should continue to see the bulk of the starts at catcher when the Yankees face right-handed pitching.
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  • Yankees' Austin Wells: Idle for nightcap

    Wells isn't in the Yankees' lineup for the second game of Wednesday's doubleheader against the Angels. Wells will take a seat to begin Wednesday's nightcap after going 2-for-4 with an RBI and a walk during a victory in Game 1. Carlos Narvaez will start behind the plate instead and bat ninth.
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  • Yankees' Austin Wells: Launches seventh home run

    Wells went 3-for-5 with a solo home run and an additional run scored in Monday's win against the Rays. The 25-year-old slugged the first of five Yankee home runs on the afternoon, going back-to-back with Anthony Volpe in the second inning. Wells continues to see regular playing time behind the plate, especially with Jose Trevino (quadriceps) on the shelf. Wells has compiled a .223 batting average with seven home runs, 21 RBI and 27 runs scored across 65 games this season.
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  • Yankees' Austin Wells: Hits three-run homer in win

    Wells went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run in Saturday's 6-1 win over the Orioles. Wells put the Yankees up 4-0 in the first inning with a three-run homer off Grayson Rodriguez. The catcher has now homered three times in July while continuing to see consistent playing time. On the season, he is hitting .220 with six home runs, 20 RBI and 24 runs scored across 190 plate appearances.
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  • Yankees' Austin Wells: Riding pine Friday

    Wells is out of the lineup for Friday's game against the Orioles. The lefty-hitting Wells will take a seat Friday with southpaw Cade Povich on the bump for Baltimore. Jose Trevino will bat eighth in his place.
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