NEW YORK — The Yankees have a problem behind home plate. It has been building for weeks. And with the roster squeeze tightening from a different direction, a resolution may be coming sooner than anyone expected.
Austin Wells is hitting .173. J.C. Escarra is hitting .182. The Yankees scored just 14 runs over a six-game stretch before the win in the Subway Series opener. Paul Goldschmidt is playing like a lineup staple on a $4 million contract. Ben Rice has first base locked down.
Something has to give. And the Yankees may have no choice but to address it at catcher.
Boone publicly challenges Wells ahead of Mets series
The most telling signal came from the Yankees’ own dugout. Before the Subway Series opener at Citi Field, manager Aaron Boone was asked about Wells and declined to soften his assessment.
Boone acknowledged the struggles directly and made clear he knows Wells is capable of more, framing it as a challenge rather than an excuse.
“I expect there to be more in there,” Boone said. “I feel like he’s capable of more. It’s been a little bit of a struggle. I feel like he’s had, for the most part, some pretty steady at-bats against right-handed pitching. I like the fact that he is walking a little bit, but he’s capable of more.”
That kind of public statement from a manager carries weight. Boone rarely calls out individual players by name before games. His willingness to do so with Wells signals the Yankees have reached a point where the status quo is no longer acceptable.
Wells’ numbers and what has gone wrong
Austin Wells hit .219 with 21 home runs and 71 RBIs last season. Through 120 plate appearances this year, he is slashing .180/.308/.280 with three home runs and five RBIs. His .588 OPS is a career low. His rOBA of .273 and 2.5 home run rate are also career worsts. In his last 21 at-bats, Wells has two hits. That is a .095 average.
The Yankees receive real defensive value from Wells. He ranks fourth among 58 qualified catchers in framing runs with three, per Baseball Savant, holds a .997 fielding percentage and leads the AL with 283 putouts. He has grown significantly behind the plate.
Wells was asked about his defensive improvement and spoke about the work that went into it.
“I knew I wasn’t good, per se, but I knew that the work that I was doing was going to end up where I needed to be,” Wells said. “And that I’d continue to do that work to get where I wanted to be in the end. I think the more experience that I’ve gotten, and the easier that it comes, the more that I realize that what I was doing before isn’t even close to the level that I am now.”
Strong framing numbers keep Wells in the Yankees lineup. But the Yankees cannot score runs on pitch framing alone.
Escarra has not solved the problem either
The Yankees’ backup JC Escarra showed flashes in April before losing momentum. He has two hits over his last six games with a .125 average in that stretch and a .410 OPS. For the season: .182, eight hits in 44 at-bats, six RBIs.
The shared weakness in the Yankees catching corps is performance against right-handed pitching. Neither has been consistent against righties. That gap shows up in the box score almost every game.
Goldschmidt’s surge complicates the roster math
Here is where the pressure compounds. Through 20 Yankees games, Goldschmidt is hitting .262/.357/.557 with four home runs and 10 RBIs. His .984 OPS against left-handed pitching, with a .366 OBP and .618 slugging percentage versus southpaws, demands more than bench time. He hit a leadoff homer against Baltimore on May 12. He has held his own against right-handers too.
The problem is that Ben Rice is not moving off first base. Rice has been one of the Yankees’ most consistent producers. He hit his 14th home run of the season in Friday’s Subway Series win over the Mets. He is within two home runs of Aaron Judge for the team lead. Rice is untouchable.
With Rice at first base every day and Goldschmidt demanding more at-bats, the Yankees do not have room to simply expand Goldschmidt’s role at first base. The position is occupied. That pressure has to go somewhere, and the path of least resistance points directly at catcher.
The trade market and what options exist
The most impactful solution for the Yankees would involve the trade market.
Ryan Jeffers of the Minnesota Twins has posted a .286 average with six home runs, 25 RBIs and a career-best 160 OPS+ in 34 games this season. The Twins are playing sub-.500 baseball and could be open to moving him.
The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Dalton Rushing is one of the strongest offensive catchers in the game, though his path to regular playing time is blocked by Will Smith’s hold on the starting job in LA. The Houston Astros’ Yainer Diaz is another name to watch as Houston has shown more willingness to deal this season.
The Guardians already moved, acquiring Patrick Bailey from the Giants last week. Teams with catcher needs are acting early. The Yankees cannot afford to wait.
The Yankees are 28-17. They have the rotation and depth to contend. But with Wells at .173, Escarra at .182, Goldschmidt overperforming and Rice untouchable at first, the catcher position is the most visible remaining weakness in the lineup. A change looks like a matter of when, not if.
What do you think?
