Yankees looking at catcher Austin Wells as leadoff hitter

TAMPA, Fla. — Batting leadoff for the Yankees . . . Austin Wells?

Odd as that might have seemed when spring training started, the second-year catcher is getting a long look in the leadoff spot.

Friday night against the Blue Jays marked the fifth straight start for Wells in which he’s hit first in the Yankees lineup.

And for the second time in that stretch, Wells homered in the bottom of the first, doing so Friday night on a 0-and-2 sinker from righthander Yariel Rodriguez (Wells homered in the bottom of the first the previous Friday night, also against Toronto).

“I think he’s going to be a guy in his career that is going to get on base. That’s my No. 1 criteria for the leadoff spot,” Aaron Boone said before the game. “Not saying I’m going to land on him for the leadoff spot, either. It’s just something that I’m looking at right now.”

When camp opened, Boone said he could see “six or seven” players hitting leadoff, mentioning Jasson Dominguez, Cody Bellinger, Jazz Chisholm Jr., DJ LeMahieu (who has since been injured) and Anthony Volpe, among others.

Wells, who singled in the third Friday, was not one of the mentioned.

But the catcher, in that first game of the spring hitting leadoff — Feb. 28 against the Blue Jays — ripped a deep homer to right leading off the bottom of the first.

After that game, Wells with a smile said he had “never led off at all in my life,” adding, “whatever’s needed, I’ll do it, for sure.”

“It might be the best option for now,” said one National League scout assigned to the Yankees system and has seen them much of the spring, noting, as other scouts have, Wells’ generally good plate discipline.

The scout said his choice, if he “becomes more selective” at the plate would be Volpe, and the third-year shortstop ending up at leadoff can’t be ruled out.

Just not, reading the current tea leaves, at the start of the season. Chisholm, though with speed on the bases and some pop, is not known for his strike zone discipline. And Dominguez would seem to have his hands full learning to play leftfield.

“I don’t hate it,” said a rival American League scout of Wells at leadoff. “I do think it’s putting a lot of pressure on him.”

Both scouts drew a parallel with what the Phillies have done with Kyle Schwarber, their lumbering first baseman who clearly is not a threat to steal bases but who is known for his knowledge of the strike zone.

“You could argue it’s the Schwarber strategy of having a guy who controls the zone up top,” the AL scout said.

Wells hit .229 with a .322 on-base percentage last season, though he was better once moved up the order to the cleanup spot, where he hit .252 with a .330 OBP. The latter numbers would have been far better had it not been for a late-season slump — which extended into the postseason — in which a clearly fatigued rookie hit .111 with a .217 OBP in his final 21 regular-season games.

“I think he’s going to be a really good offensive player, right now,” Boone said. “And I think part of his offensive profile is going to be the ability to get on base.”

Stanton returns, but leaving again

Boone said Giancarlo Stanton, as was expected, returned to Tampa on Friday from New York, where the DH had been since Feb. 24 dealing with what the Yankees at the time of his departure said were “personal” reasons in nature. After Boone spoke, which was some three hours before Friday night’s game, the club said Stanton would be returning to New York on Monday for a “third round” of PRP injections into both of his elbows (inflammation) but the 35-year-old’s stay this time won’t be for more than a day. Boone said there is still no timetable for when Stanton, who will start the season on the injured list, might be cleared to begin baseball activities.

Extra bases

Marcus Stroman, the fifth starter with Luis Gil set to miss at least the first three months of the season with a right lat strain, made his third start of the spring Friday and was sharp, allowing one run and two hits over three innings in which he struck out two . . . Boone said Clarke Schmidt, brought along a bit slower than the other starters in camp because of a back issue, will make his spring debut next week and is likely to stay behind in Tampa when the team leaves for the regular season and be slotted in to start the club’s sixth game of the season, April 3 against Arizona.