Austin Wells hasn’t exactly built a shiny case on the stat sheet this season, but the Yankees still came out of the trade deadline looking like they made the right move by keeping him in place.
The full picture on Wells is rough. He’s hitting .186/.292/.332 with a 77 wRC+, along with 14 home runs and 32 RBI.
That’s the kind of line that can bury a player’s season. But the stretch since the deadline tells a different story.
Over that span, Wells has posted a .221/.336/.416 line with a 114 wRC+, plus six homers and 16 RBI.
That’s not star-level production, but it’s a lot better than what Boston got from Adley Rutschman after making its own move. In that same stretch, Rutschman has hit .217/.268/.383 with a 77 wRC+, with four home runs and 12 RBI. For the Yankees, that makes the decision to stay put look a whole lot cleaner.
There’s another layer here beyond the offense. New York’s strength is on the mound, and Wells has been the guy behind the plate for 122 games. He’s caught everybody on the staff, from ace Cam Schlittler to supporting arms like Yerry De Los Santos.
That matters if the Yankees are going to make noise in October. Wells may have disappointed at the plate, but he knows this pitching staff, and that familiarity has real value for a team that wants to lean on its arms in the postseason.
It’s easy to imagine how different this could have looked if the Yankees had followed Boston’s path and shipped out a haul of prospects for Rutschman. They’d still be headed into October with a catcher who hasn’t hit much, and they’d also be dealing with a backstop who only partly knows the staff.
Even with Max Fried, Carlos Rodón, and Gerrit Cole out for most of the year, Wells has had years of experience with them. Rutschman would not have had that advantage.
The long-term question is still hanging out there. Whether Wells should be back next year is a separate conversation, and if the Yankees decide they need to move on from a catcher with a 77 wRC+, that would be understandable. A decent finish won’t erase how poor his season has been overall.
For now, though, the Yankees can leave that debate for later. Wells remains their best option at catcher, and staying the course at the deadline worked out this time as the playoffs arrive and the Red Sox await.
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