With roughly two weeks to go before Opening Day, the New York Yankees find themselves with more question marks than they entered spring training with. The club still has not identified an everyday third baseman, and their ever-growing list of injuries has weakened both their batting order and starting rotation.
The losses of Luis Gil, Giancarlo Stanton, and Gerrit Cole have cast a dark cloud over the team’s season outlook. However, hope isn’t entirely lost, and the team has seemingly solved at least one of their problems going into the regular season.
New York entered the spring without a clue about who would bat leadoff in their Opening Day matchup against the Milwaukee Brewers on March 27. That was until manager Aaron Boone decided to test catcher Austin Wells in the one-hole a few weeks ago.
Never had Wells been a leadoff hitter, nor is he the speedster, contact-focused type that typically fits the bill. But even so, he wasted no time proving that he could do damage batting first. Leading off for the first time against the Toronto Blue Jays on Feb. 28, the lefty batter turned on a 1-0 fastball from righty Jake Bloss and crushed it over the right field bleachers.
Speaking with the YES Network broadcast booth during the fifth inning, Boone explained that he told Wells, “This isn’t just to get you extra ABs… this is something I’m at least considering,” emphasizing that the backstop could very well be in the mix for the Opening Day leadoff spot.
Wells welcomed the challenge of batting leadoff, with the potential of becoming the first catcher in Yankee history to hit first in a regular season game. He spoke with YES Network’s Justin Shackil on Sunday, saying that he’s ready to help the team no matter where he’s slotted in the batting order.
“I’m open for anything, really,” he said. “As long as I’m in the lineup, I’m good to go.”
Wells has since led off in every game he’s appeared in while singlehandedly spoiling pitchers’ ERAs. He led off against the Blue Jays again last Friday, poking a 0-2 sinker from right-hander Yariel Rodríguez over the short porch at George M. Steinbrenner Field. In his next game against the Detroit Tigers on Monday, Wells blasted righty Kenta Maeda’s initial offering beyond the wall in deep right-center field.
Boone has been especially impressed with Wells’ ability to get on base. Since taking over the leadoff spot, the catcher has safely reached in six of seven games.
“I think he’s going to be a guy in his career that is going to get on base,” Boone said during the team’s game against Toronto on Friday. “That’s my No. 1 criteria for the leadoff spot. I’m not saying I’m going to land on him in the leadoff spot, either. It’s just something that I’m looking at.”
Wells enters 2025, riding the momentum from a tremendous freshman campaign in which he was a finalist for the American League Rookie of the Year Award – he ultimately lost to his flamethrowing teammate, Gil. There, Wells hit .229 with a .718 OPS and 13 home runs, showcasing his power and ability to get on base.
After his spring debut on Feb. 26, Wells told YES Network’s Meredith Marakovits that his goal for his second season is to try to improve every aspect of his game but identified his hitting and overall consistency as the primary areas of focus. And through eight spring training games thus far, Wells is hitting .364 with a monstrous 1.209 OPS and three homers, all of which have been leadoff blasts.
Wells told Shackil that his approach at the plate would remain the same no matter where he was placed in the order. But at the same time, he understands the responsibility of getting on base for the club’s top sluggers like Cody Bellinger and captain Aaron Judge.
“I’m not trying to change too much of what I do,” he said. “I think if I did that, I’d kind of take away from my game. I’m trying to just play it the same as if I’m hitting fifth or ninth or wherever. For me it’s just keeping it the same, but I know that leading off, hitting in front of a guy like Aaron [Judge] or whoever, it’s important that I get on base for him.”
