Yankees approaching awkward conversation with Austin Wells, regardless of his defense

The New York Yankees' newfound ruthless sense of urgency has claimed many this season. Luis Gil was unceremoniously demoted before it was truly "necessary," as Carlos Rodón's return wasn't set for a couple more weeks. Randal Grichuk was only given 33 plate appearances to prove his worth before he was given his walking papers. Even the Golden Boy, Anthony Volpe, wasn't spared. That brings us to the underdiscussed Austin Wells.

Wells is hitting just .183/.319/.290 with three homers over 31 games. In a way, he's just like Volpe, standing still or even moving backwards instead of progressing. In a way, he's worse.

Wells showed good on-base skills in 2024 with an 11.4% walk rate as he battled with Jose Trevino for playing time, even if his power was inconsistent. In 2025, he hit 21 homers and posted a .217 ISO, but saw his walks fall to 6.5%. This year, the walks are back at a 16.8% clip, but now his power has fallen to even worse levels than before, with a .108 ISO.

Fans have had enough. The question is, will the Yankees follow through here and send a message as they have with other players, or are we stuck hoping for his bat to come around while hanging our hats on his better-than-expected defense?

Austin Wells is setting himself up to be a Yankees' trade deadline casualty

We thought that if Wells brought his restrained 2024 chase tendencies into 2026, along with the increased authority with which he made contact in 2025, that he might then break out with the two strengths working alongside each other.

He's chasing less and still hitting the ball reasonably hard, but now he's become a ground ball machine, with his rate of grounders rising from 31.8% last year to 41.2% this year. That's nuked the marriage we were looking for and made his impressive World Baseball Classic performance seem like a mirage.

As far as his defense, most of Wells' value comes from his framing. He's posted four framing runs on the season, but his arm is below average with a minus-one run value, and his blocking is just a bit above average, coming in with a run value of one. The framing is nice, but ABS does put a damper on the advantage that it creates.

We've seen Ryan McMahon get going as of late. Trent Grisham has shown flashes of production as well as underlying stats that prove a breakthrough is around the corner. Wells is truly the last underperformer left, and it's leading to a point where New York can no longer look for silver linings, and instead must demand results.

If he doesn't turn it around soon, Wells could find himself on the way out — or at least to being replaced as the starter. A right-handed-hitting catcher would balance the scales better anyway, and there could be solutions on the market come July.

Heading the list of backstops who could find themselves on the move is Ryan Jeffers of the Minnesota Twins. He's a free-agent-to-be on a team heading nowhere. He's slashing a ridiculous .300/.408/.520 with five dingers over 30 games. The previous three seasons all featured him posting wRC+ numbers of 106 or greater. And while his defense isn't the greatest, it's enough to get by, given his bat.

Wells is going to have some runway. It's doubtful the Yankees make a move before the deadline. But if he doesn't improve, the Yankees will either shoot for the moon with a guy like Jeffers or look for a right-handed complement to move the position to a timeshare. The time for hope and dreams is over. It's time to produce, or else the team will leave you behind. That's where we should be, now, with Wells.

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