Aaron Boone in early stages of ruining Austin Wells after Jose Trevino's Yankees return

Remember Ben Rice? The lefty-swinging first baseman who provided nothing but professional at-bats, almost directly from Double-A Somerset? He drilled three home runs in one game against the Boston Red Sox in early July, with the Yankees' season on the verge of plummeting off a cliff? Whatever happened to that guy?

Oh. A quick check shows he's still on the Yankees' roster, but after hitting .294 with a .972 OPS through that explosion vs. Boston, he's made just six starts in August, and is now down to .188/.287/.391 on the season, losing time to a "resurgent" DJ LeMahieu.

The downturn started with removing Rice against left-handers; he's only taken 36 plate appearances against them all year, hitting a powerless .143 against them. Holding their ground against lefties is a Yankees-wide problem that Rice can't solve, but he was also never given a chance to. Aaron Boone (or whoever actually makes the lineup) shielded Rice from early same-side battles, which led to him losing any semblance of a consistent rhythm, which in turn resulted in him falling off the map entirely.

Somehow, some way, this represents a cautionary tale for the man who's been the Yankees' third-best hitter since June: Austin Wells, the bonafide starting catcher as a rookie.

Wells, who pummeled a home run and broke a seventh-inning tie with a clutch single in the series finale against the White Sox, hit .277 with a .942 OPS in the month of July, followed by .327 with an .838 OPS in 13 August games. Prior to the team's next series with Detroit, Jose Trevino returned from the injured list to give Wells a well-deserved breather. Unfortunately, he's done more than that.

Trevino started Tuesday night in the Bronx for the third time in four games since his arrival. With six left-handed starters scheduled for the opposition in the next nine contests, it appears Aaron Boone plans to stay away from Wells more often than not in same-side matchups (in 40 at-bats against lefties this year, he's hitting just .225 with a .565 OPS).

Is that sample size large enough to determine that Wells cannot hit lefties, even after making progress at the plate throughout the season? No way. And avoiding lefty after lefty could lead to Wells losing the rhythm he'd worked so hard to find, as well as stagnating his development moving forward (he ... is the starter, isn't he?).

Yankees Lineup: Austin Wells sits three out of four games since Jose Trevino's return

And of course, Wells delivered when he was called upon to pinch hit in the bottom of the eighth. He rocketed a double off the center field wall, but a waffling Trent Grisham was thrown out at the plate for a mile because the outfielder wasn't paying attention on the bases. But we digress.

Avoiding Wells' weaknesses makes sense, in a vacuum, if you believe that playing probabilities only affects one game and not the next. The reality, though, is that each contest in a 162-game season bleeds into the next. Getting Wells off his feet for a day or two makes sense, in both the long run and in the grand scheme of things. Sitting him in three out of four games, with two off days mixed in, is illogical.

Wells struggles against left-handers ... for now. But the only way to raise his comfort level is by building up his reps as the season progresses. The Yankees stood by Wells when he struggled across the board in April and May, and as the batted ball data predicted they would, positive results followed. Shying away from him after he'd found his stride could be counterproductive, in both the here and now and next several seasons.

Besides, even against a same-side lefty like Matthew Boyd for two or three at-bats, Wells likely brings more power potential than a comfortable Trevino.