PHILADELPHIA — It’s too late at this point for Austin Wells to do anything to keep the Yankees from looking to add a catcher before the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
Wells is having another rough season at the plate and the organization knows it needs an upgrade at the position.
He insisted Saturday that the situation isn’t weighing on him as the deadline approaches.
“It’s not because I can’t control anything that happens there,’’ Wells said before hitting ninth against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. “All I can do is go play and try to win. I feel that being behind the plate for our staff and the guys is giving us the best chance to win. I tell myself that. I can’t control anything other than that.”
His success at becoming a solid defensive catcher has continued to surprise scouts who saw him in college and in the minors.
But Wells’ lack of production at the plate has bewildered them even more.
“He’s been ruined as a hitter,’’ one American League scout said. “He doesn’t look like the same guy.”
It’s why, as noti.group’s Joel Sherman has reported, the Yankees continue to be interested in Minnesota catcher Ryan Jeffers.
For now, though, Wells is splitting time with Ali Sánchez.
Wells entered Saturday having reached base in four straight plate appearances, as well as seven of his previous 10.
And after his OPS dropped to an MLB-worst .468 on July 8, the lefty hitter has been better.
In his previous eight games entering Saturday, he was 6-for-21 with a pair of homers, four walks and four strikeouts.
That’s after he recovered from the cervical headaches that landed Wells on the IL earlier in the year.
“I feel like I’m seeing the ball better, honestly,’’ Wells said of the recent uptick. “I’m just generally seeing the baseball better.”
He’s still not sure if that’s a result of being healthy.
“It could be,’’ Wells said. “I’ve been feeling much better.”
Wells also credited the hockey-style mask he’s used since coming back as helping.
“I’m still doing better every day,’’ the catcher said. “I never dealt with something like this before and there’s not a lot of research on this kind of [injury].”
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He’s hoping he’s turned a corner at the plate.
Even with that improvement, Wells entered Saturday with the worst batting average (.163) of any player in the majors with 220 plate appearances this season.
His .262 on-base percentage and .524 OPS are also the second-worst of the 241 hitters with that many plate appearances.
“Obviously, we expect a lot more of him offensively, but he knows he can hit,” Aaron Boone said. “He knows he’s a better hitter than he’s shown this year. It’s tough to deal with, but he’s also mature enough and advanced enough in his career that he understands the importance of being behind the plate every single day and the role of limiting runs and helping the pitching staff. He’s done a really good job of separating it.”
“That’s my No. 1 job: Being able to lock in on defense and focus to have great games with our pitchers,’’ Wells said. “That takes a lot of the weight of the results off the hitting side away, but I know I can hit better than I’ve shown.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
