Yankees catcher pulled from Wednesday night lineup vs. Reds for very good reason

Typically, it's customary to give your starting catcher more days off than your average starter elsewhere across the diamond. Tack on 100+ degree heat and the Yankees' 16th game in 16 days, and yeah, it seemed pretty reasonable to expect that Austin Wells would not be catching Wednesday's finale in the Queen City.

And yet ... when Wednesday's lineup dropped, there he was, batting eighth ahead of DJ LeMahieu and attempting to salvage the finale in Cincinnati before a plane flight back to the Bronx.

What happened here? Did Aaron Boone suddenly forget to be protective of his players after yanking Carlos Rodón after 88 pitches in Game 2? Was Wells getting punished while everyone else got off easy?

Nope. Unlike Tuesday's strange bullpen maneuvers, there was a happy ending to this particular story. Breakout backup JC Escarra was supposed to catch, but instead had to rush home for the birth of his first child. He'll hit the paternity list - and the Yankees will hope for a blowout victory and some relief from Ben Rice behind the plate.

Then again, if Rice were to get hurt, the Yankees would be mega-screwed. Maybe Bob Boone can strap on the tools of ignorance and catch? Extenuating circumstances here, obviously.

JC Escarra pulled from New York Yankees' lineup vs. Reds, placed on paternity list

So much attention has been paid to the Yankees' offseason trade of Carlos Narvaez that it's easy to forget that Escarra, the catcher they bet on, has also been quite awesome. His framing has earned accolades, and his offense is approaching league-average (and, based on a few recent hard-hit liners, he deserves better outcomes).

Escarra has caught four 1-0 Yankees victories this season, as well as Clarke Schmidt's no-hit bid on Saturday. Now, he'll race home to catch the most important thing of all.

As for the rest of his Yankees teammates, they'd better get to work. They arrived in Cincinnati with a pencil-thin margin for error, and they've lost a good deal of that good will, especially in Tuesday night's gut-punch loss. It's time for Escarra's brothers to pick him up.