Austin Wells and his partner are expecting a child together.
Wells and Caroline Nielson took to Instagram on Friday to announce in a joint post that they are having a baby.
“Our biggest blessing & sweetest surprise,” Nielson said in the post’s caption. “We can’t wait to meet our lil bug.”
The post — the first public Instagram photos of them together — featured multiple pictures of the two posing together on the field at Yankee Stadium, with Wells holding a mini Yankees jersey bearing his last name and Nielson showing sonograms.
The announcement comes weeks after Wells, 26, wrapped up his second full season with the Yankees.
Over 126 games this season, Wells put up a slash line of .219/.275/.436 with 21 home runs, 22 doubles, and 71 RBIs, all career highs for the catcher.
Despite the career-bests in counting stats, Wells had a slightly worse year compared to his rookie season in 2024, which saw the former first-round pick finish third in American League Rookie of the Year Award voting.
The Yankees find themselves in a conundrum at catcher, with Ben Rice putting up an impressive slash of .255/.337/.499.
Rice, 26, spent the majority of his time this season at first base and DH, as he was regarded as the Yankees’ worst defensive catcher they had on the roster, which also included J.C. Escarra.
Despite Wells’ up-and-down production at the plate, Yankees pitchers praised his game-calling skills throughout the season, as his framing was third-best among all catchers throughout the league, according to Baseball Savant.
Wells started all seven games behind the dish for the Yankees in the postseason.
“Really have a lot of trust in him back there,” manager Aaron Boone said during the ALDS.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
