TAMPA — Reputations are hard to shake.
In spring training last season, Mets officials insisted that both their internal data and eyeball scouting validated Francisco Alvarez as a capable or better catcher. But a swath of talent evaluators who had begun to accumulate opinions from rookie ball in 2019 disputed that.
Alvarez then was not only a very good major league catcher, but was better on that side of the ball than as a hitter, which was his touted carrying tool.
Now, here is Austin Wells with a chance to make this Yankees roster with the same bat-over-glove rep. Heck, with a chance to perhaps get into a 50-50 catching split with Jose Trevino — or even more considering the impact his lefty bat could have in lengthening the lineup. But what persists is the buzz outside Steinbrenner Field, where so many evaluators wonder why the Yankees haven’t tried Wells at first base or even the outfield and DH.
When it comes to prospects: 1) no organization knows the prospect like his organization and 2) his organization is likely to hype that prospect because it is good for trade business or because emotional ties to a homegrown player create biases or because it is just accurate.
The Mets were accurate on Alvarez. And, last week in Padres camp, Kyle Higashioka and Michael King no longer were Yankees, but were still praising Wells’ defense. Plus, this is such an all-in year for the Yankees that they cannot simply put him on the roster to validate their tout.
Wells took a first positive MLB step by outperforming his defensive rep, albeit in a one-month cameo last September. Yet, Ben Rortvedt, who is out of options to be sent to the minors without going through waivers, started five times after Wells’ promotion — Gerrit Cole’s final five starts. Cole told me that he absolutely is comfortable with Wells catching him — and that Wells will catch him at times. We’ll see.
In Cole’s first Yankees season, he said all the right things about Gary Sanchez, who caught the righty’s first eight starts before Higashioka pretty much became Cole’s personal catcher for a year-plus before Trevino took the job in 2022 until he was lost for the season last year.
Cole is Cole. Demanding and precise. He also is a Cy Young-winning ace. So making him comfortable is essential to the Yankee season. But it is beyond Cole. Trevino is such a good defender/pitcher whisperer that just about any pitcher would pick him if given a choice. The Yankees, though, believe in Wells’ bat and want it regularly in the lineup.
“We have a ton of great catchers here,” Wells said. “So, for me, it definitely pushes me to work harder and compete.”
Yankees catching coordinator Tanner Swanson described Wells as “having a chip on his shoulder” and being motivated because he hears the criticism.
“Reputation precedes the truth,” Swanson said. “But I’ve had confidence because he was putting up good numbers defensively [in the minors] every step of the way. So I had no reason to believe it wouldn’t play at this level. So his short stint with us late last year might have opened up a lot of external eyes, but internally we’ve had confidence that he would do exactly what he did and more.”
Wells, the 28th overall pick in 2020, came with a bat-first profile. But Swanson calls Wells “a great player development success story” and “credit to Austin’s desire to want to be good.” His weak area was considered his arm, but even while 17 out of 20 steals were successes late last season, Wells’ workout diligence with, among other things, weighted balls has increased his throw velocity to 80.6 mph last year (MLB average is 79.4). The Yanks and Wells think he might still have more in the arm. Both his exchange (glove to hand) and pop time to second were above MLB average, according to both the Yankees’ internal data and the publicly available metrics on Baseball Savant.
If anything, the area the Yankees would like to see Wells make greater strides in is blocking pitches. But he showed up well on pitch framing, which the Yankees (like most organizations) obsess over, feeling that positively changing counts affects game daily — Higashioka and Trevino excel at it. And Aaron Boone credited Wells for having the demeanor and game-calling savvy of a strong catcher. He used the words “strong presentation.”
Boone said he had his antennae up late last season because he knew the outside rep, but was pleased with how Wells handled himself and “I watch him now and don’t even notice” any defensive shortcomings.
“I think I am good at the little things in helping control a pitching staff by giving a pitcher what he needs, whether that is slowing him down or pumping him up — the little things that go into managing a game, that’s my best attribute as a catcher,” Wells said. “And the work I have put in the last 3 ¹/₂ years has made me a better catcher.”
The best outcome for the Yankees would be that neither they nor Wells feel they have to defend him — his defense will just speak for itself.
