Even before Jose Trevino went out with a strained quad that likely will cost him weeks — though manager Aaron Boone said Friday the catcher was recovering better than anticipated — Austin Wells had begun performing like the player the Yankees had hoped when they selected him in the first round of the 2020 draft.
He shook off a terrible first couple of weeks but still wasn’t hitting well into early June.
Since then, Wells has been one of the few bright spots in the Yankee lineup, and with Trevino on the injured list and only untested rookie Carlos Narvaez on the roster behind him, the Yankees are counting on that to continue.
“It’s just progress,” Wells said. “You’re going to have stretches when you feel bad and when you feel good. For me, it’s just trying to limit the bad and extend the good.”
The increased playing time has helped.
“The more at-bats I get, the better I feel,’’ Wells said. “I feel like the more I’m seeing teams and seeing arms in the big leagues, the more comfortable I’m feeling at the plate.”
He said he’s had the same mentality, even when he was slumping earlier in the year, when he had a .347 OPS after his first 14 games and a still ugly .578 OPS by June 6.
Since that date, Wells has an OPS of .881, as well as a .779 mark in his previous 47 games dating back to April.
“I wasn’t worried at all early on,” Wells said. “Baseball is such an up-and-down game. I had a pretty big down to start the year, but I feel like I’ve done a pretty good job climbing out of there and fighting every at-bat. It sucked and you don’t want to start that way, but I was never worried about my ability or the inevitable flow of the game.”
Wells hasn’t hit well against changeups or four-seam fastballs this year and said, “I definitely feel like there’s room to grow. I know I’m capable of doing more. It’s only a matter of time before I get better.”
Wells’ advanced metrics behind the plate are mostly solid.
The Yankees have been impressed by his framing skills, too, which aren’t quite to Trevino’s level but getting close.
And he’s hoping for an early return from Trevino.
“He’s a big part of the team, and we want him back as fast as possible,’’ Wells said. “He’s helped the pitching staff so much this year, and getting to work with him has been great. I’m looking forward, definitely, to playing more, but I’m excited for him to get back.”