u/Zepbounce-96

It's pretty clear that on the basis of a couple months of metrics in July and August 2024 the Yankees became big believers in Austin Wells as their catcher of the future, maybe even a new young Core Yankee. And during those months, Wells' line was impressive. For that sustained 2 month period as a rookie over 168 PAs Wells hit .303/.389/.549 with a wRC+ of 166, 9 HRs and 29 RBIs.

The Yankees clearly saw something they liked so they decided trading away most of the rest of their catcher depth to help build a playoff caliber roster was justified and defensible:

Date	Yankee Catcher Traded	Yankee Acquisition
December 2023	Kyle Higashioka to the San Diego Padres	Juan Soto, Trent Grisham
March 2024	Ben Rortvedt to the Tampa Bay Rays	Jon Berti
July 2024	Agustin Ramirez to the Miami Marlins	Jazz Chisholm Jr.
December 2024	Carlos Narvaez to the Boston Red Sox	Elmer Cruz + International Bonus Space
December 2024	Jose Trevino to the Cincinnati Reds	Fernando Cruz, Alex Jackson
July 2025	Alex Jackson to the Baltimore Orioles	International Bonus Space + Cash
July 2025	Rafael Flores, Edgleen Perez to the Pittsburgh Pirates	David Bednar
July 2025	Jesus Rodriguez to the San Francisco Giants	Camilo Doval

So it's not like the Yankees catcher pipeline has been weak, in fact it's been the opposite. The Yankees have credibly produced a whole slew of catchers that other teams wanted. The Pirates reportedly turned down better trade packages for Bednar because they thought the Yankees catchers were coming from a high quality organization. It's just that the cupboard is bare now and the Yankees have painted themselves into a corner with not too many current options at catcher beyond Wells, Escarra, and Rice in an emergency.

Through 128 PAs this season Austin Wells has 19 hits, total. That means he is due to break into the 20s any day now. Any day now....

And once he gets 20 hits, Katie bar the door! Can 30 hits be far behind?

At current pace Wells will reach 30 hits on or about June 16. And at current pace if he plays his usual complement of 450 PAs in a season he will end the season with about 67 hits, total.

So pretty good, for a catcher!

Silver lining: The Yankees never, ever have to worry about this guy taking them to arbitration.

After the hard hit Jasson Dominguez took playing against the Rangers on Thursday it's reasonable to figure he will not make the trip to Milwaukee with the team. MLB concussion protocol is 7 days on the IL and even if he is not concussed it makes sense for the Yankees to move cautiously with his health. I'm sure we all wish him a speedy recovery (EDIT - JD will go to the IL with a sprained shoulder, no concussion).

But that's going to require some management with the current slate of Yankee injuries:

• Stanton on IL
• Rice still not playing
• Domínguez shoulder evaluation, at least 10 day IL (that means missing at least 9 games)

So Spencer Jones probably becomes the obvious MLB outfield call-up, at least for the road trip. This doesn't mean guaranteed PAs for the big lefty but it's the smart move to have the best AAA bat in your org on the road with you when a few regular players are indisposed.

Oswaldo Cabrera would be the other obvious choice to get called up but you didn't click on this post to read about him. I mean we all love Waldo but I know you Jones fans think this might be the chance for your guy, let's be honest.

IF Jones got promoted that would also leave a hole in AAA, at least for the moment, which means there could be a quick promotion for 32 yo Nick Torres, last year's Mexican League MVP! Could the real life Roy Hobbes be getting one step closer to his MLB dream?

Since today is an off day and the first month of the season is history it seems like a good time to discuss what the Yankees have done on offense so far:

Category	March/April 2026	2026 MLB Rank
BA	.229	#25
OBP	.324	#5
SLG	.426	#6
OPS	.749	#5
wRC+	110	#5
BBs	138	#2
HRs	48	#1
RBIs	145	#6
SBs	32	#4
TBs	430	#5
Runs	153	#6

This Yankee squad is not built like a classic “spray line drives and hit .280” offense that traditional fans are used to seeing. They’re built more around creating basepath traffic plus damage plus pressure: getting on base with walks, hitting homers, and creating extra bases with steals.

Of course, a lot of fans are going to complain. The offense is inconsistent, not enough doubles, no leadoff hitting, Judge is soft, etc. Whatever. The fact is that a lot of clubs started falling apart this past month and we've seen the Yankees fight back from deficits in games time and again. To go 8-2 over this past road trip is a pretty great result. Obviously the Yankees' strong pitching has been a major asset and the offense has been good enough most of the time. Rice and Judge are the big headliners but Caballero is also heating up, now hitting .267. That's second on the team behind only Rice. His 12 SBs are also tied for #2 in MLB.

This next month is a big test for the Yankees with 14 games against AL East rivals, mostly at home. It's a good opportunity for the Yankees to put some distance between themselves and these other clubs in the standings and also establish potential playoff tiebreakers which we know matters. If everyone continues to show up and do their job the Yankees should find themselves in the drivers seat a month from now as they enter June.