Austin Wells
24-Year-Old
2024 Stats
AVG
.086
HR
0
RBI
2
R
4
SB
1
Rest-of-Season Projections
2024 Fantasy Outlook
Wells hasn't changed much as a prospect since the Yankees selected him at the back of the first round in 2020, and he enters the year atop the big-league depth chart after getting 75 plate appearances to close 2023. Per Baseball Savant's three-year rolling average, Yankee Stadium has been the second-best park for lefty power, and the lefty-hitting Wells already has at least 50-grade power, so 20 homers seems doable as a rookie if he gets the workload of a starting catcher. In his minor-league career, the only level where Wells hit better than .261 was High-A, and he had a walk rate of 11 percent or higher at every minor-league stop, so he is going to be more valuable in OBP leagues than batting average leagues. An unsustainably-high 13.8 Barrel% in his small MLB sample helped generate optimistic x stats (.275 xBA, .566 xSLG, .367 xwOBA), and while he won't approach those numbers over a full season, there are enough encouraging signs with Wells that he makes for a viable second catcher in two-catcher leagues. Wells is a mediocre defensive catcher, so the biggest risk in fantasy is that his defense costs him playing time and he only hits 10-15 home runs instead of 20-plus. The projection system Steamer has Jose Trevino and Ben Rortvedt being worth more wins above replacement than Wells on a per plate appearance basis due to their defense, but it still seems like Wells will be given every chance to be the guy given his draft pedigree and offensive upside. Read Past Outlooks
Gives way to Trevino behind plate
Wells is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Athletics, Erik Boland of Newsday reports.
ANALYSIS
Wells will head to the bench for the fifth time in eight games, with four of those absences coming with the opposition bringing left-handed pitchers to the hill. Though the Yankees seem to be opting for a platoon at catcher between the lefty-hitting Wells and the righty-hitting Jose Trevino, it's possible that Wells moves into a pure backup role or is optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre if he's unable to get going at the plate anytime soon. Wells has mustered a lowly .347 OPS through his first 13 games of the season.
Wells will head to the bench for the fifth time in eight games, with four of those absences coming with the opposition bringing left-handed pitchers to the hill. Though the Yankees seem to be opting for a platoon at catcher between the lefty-hitting Wells and the righty-hitting Jose Trevino, it's possible that Wells moves into a pure backup role or is optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre if he's unable to get going at the plate anytime soon. Wells has mustered a lowly .347 OPS through his first 13 games of the season.
Batting Stats
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2024
2023
Minor League Game Log
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
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1
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2022
+178%
OPS vs RHP
2024
+39%
OPS vs LHP
OPS | PA | HR | RBI | AVG | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Since 2022vs Left | .237 | 13 | 0 | 0 | .083 | ||||
Since 2022vs Right | .658 | 107 | 4 | 15 | .194 | ||||
2024vs Left | .452 | 7 | 0 | 0 | .167 | ||||
2024vs Right | .325 | 39 | 0 | 2 | .069 | ||||
2023vs Left | .000 | 6 | 0 | 0 | .000 | ||||
2023vs Right | .811 | 68 | 4 | 13 | .250 | ||||
2022vs Left | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
2022vs Right | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
More Splits→ | View More Split Stats |
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2022
+16%
OPS on Road
2024
+39%
OPS on Road
OPS | PA | HR | RBI | AVG | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Since 2022Home | .555 | 47 | 2 | 3 | .125 | ||||
Since 2022Away | .645 | 73 | 2 | 12 | .215 | ||||
2024Home | .278 | 18 | 0 | 0 | .000 | ||||
2024Away | .386 | 28 | 0 | 2 | .136 | ||||
2023Home | .686 | 29 | 2 | 3 | .185 | ||||
2023Away | .778 | 45 | 2 | 10 | .256 | ||||
2022Home | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
2022Away | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
More Splits→ | View More Split Stats |
Stat Review
How does Austin Wells compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
BB/K
1.13BB Rate
19.6%K Rate
17.4%BABIP
.103ISO
.000AVG
.086OBP
.261SLG
.086OPS
.347wOBA
.193Exit Velocity
85.3 mphHard Hit Rate
31.0%Barrels/PA
8.7%Expected BA
.241Expected SLG
.492Sprint Speed
21.6 ft/secGround Ball %
25.0%Line Drive %
21.4%Fly Ball %
53.6%Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
Games By Position
Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Austin Wells See More
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Jorge Martin identifies targets for fantasy managers in leagues with Thursday FAAB, starting with Astros starting pitcher Ronel Blanco.
Latest Fantasy Rumors
Focusing on catching
Manager Aaron Boone said Sunday the Yankees don't plan to play Wells at another position besides catcher in the immediate future, reports Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News.
ANALYSIS
The 24-year-old may be capable of playing another position, but the club wants him to focus his attention on working with the pitching staff. Wells made his MLB debut down the stretch last season and is poised to open 2024 as the primary backstop after he posted a .743 OPS in 74 plate appearances.
The 24-year-old may be capable of playing another position, but the club wants him to focus his attention on working with the pitching staff. Wells made his MLB debut down the stretch last season and is poised to open 2024 as the primary backstop after he posted a .743 OPS in 74 plate appearances.
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2023
2022
2021
Very little about Wells' long-term projection has changed since he got into pro ball. He still projects to be a subpar defensive catcher and he still projects to be a high-OBP hitter whose lefty swing is tailor made for Yankee Stadium. Wells slashed .273/.380/.504 with a 22.2 K%, 13.8 BB% and 20 home runs in 405 plate appearances, over half of which came at Double-A. The Yankees have valued catcher defense in recent seasons - Jose Trevino led all catchers by a significant margin in FanGraphs' defensive WAR in 2022 - but at some point either in 2023 or 2024, Wells should get a chance to show what he is capable of in the majors. If he were to play roughly two-thirds of the time (not a given because of the defense), Wells has the offensive upside to be a top-10 fantasy option at the position. He stole 16 bases on 16 attempts last year, but there are no public scouting reports that list him as any better than a 45-grade runner, so it would be unwise to expect him to steal more than a few bases per year in the majors.
More Fantasy News
Out of Sunday's lineup
Wells is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the Rays.
ANALYSIS
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Resting Sunday
Wells is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Guardians.
ANALYSIS
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Idle for Game 1
Wells isn't in the Yankees' lineup for Game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader against Cleveland.
ANALYSIS
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Gets Wednesday off
Wells is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Marlins.
ANALYSIS
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Out against left-hander
Wells is not in the lineup for Monday's contest against the Marlins, Pete Caldera of The Bergen Record reports.
ANALYSIS
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