TAMPA — Aaron Boone wrote Austin Wells’ name into the leadoff spot on Feb. 28, his second game of the spring, just to see how he might take to it.
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The catcher hasn’t gone anywhere since.
With each passing game, it appears more and more likely that Wells will be leading off when the Yankees host the Brewers on Opening Day on March 27 — and at least whenever they face right-handers to begin the season.
“I think you can read into it a little bit, yeah,” Boone said Sunday after using Wells to lead off for his 10th straight game, a 4-3 loss to the Pirates at Steinbrenner Field.
“I like him there. It may continue to evolve. I don’t know that we’ve seen many lefty starters at all. I might change it up there if we were to see a left-handed starter possibly. But I’ve really liked him in that spot. I think he profiles well for it. But there’s also a number of guys I could still envision being in that role. That hasn’t changed necessarily. It’s more the fact that I just really like what I’m seeing with Austin and think he can be pretty dynamic there.”
Though he may not look like the prototypical leadoff hitter, Wells has taken to the spot through 10 Grapefruit League games, putting together the kind of at-bats that Boone values ahead of Aaron Judge. After going 1-for-3 with a walk and a leadoff double on Sunday, Wells is batting 11-for-31 (.355) with a 1.122 OPS and three home runs this spring.
At the beginning of camp, Boone said he could envision six or seven different leadoff options. He has also given Jazz Chisholm Jr. a run of games in the leadoff spot this spring.
But while the speedy Chisholm may fit the look of a leadoff hitter better than Wells, Boone seems to like him more in the middle of the lineup, where he has a string of athletic hitters in Chisholm (likely batting fifth), Anthony Volpe and Jasson Domínguez.
“I’m looking at it as what I think Austin Wells is as a hitter and what I think his profile’s going to be,” Boone said. “[That] is somebody that gets on base and obviously has power too.”