Yankees’ Austin Wells proved all the catching scouts wrong

Austin Wells was, unquestionably, an offense-first catcher when drafted, a touted player taken in the first round of the 2020 draft by the Yankees.

But a player whose future behind the plate was very much in question.

Including by the team drafting him.

And in the early going of his professional career, starting in the low minor leagues, those questions became even more pronounced.

“Awful,” one National League scout assigned to the Yankees’ system said recently of his impressions of Wells defensively when he first saw him with Low-A Tampa in 2021. “I mean, really bad.”

“Couldn’t throw,” said another NL scout who covers the Yankees’ minor leagues.

A third scout, from a rival American League team, said: “I never, ever thought he’d catch in the big leagues.”

He quickly added: “I couldn’t have been more wrong. A lot of us were. And I’m glad because he always had a good presence back there. That you could see.”

The vast majority of the verbiage surrounding Wells, now 25, since his call-up to the big leagues Sept. 1, 2023, was, and still is, about his potent lefty bat. During this past spring training, it was almost entirely about the Yankees’ somewhat unusual move to put the catcher in the leadoff spot, a role he seems to have instantly adjusted to by homering in his first at-bat of the spring from the position on March 7 and then doing it again in Thursday’s season-opening victory over the Brewers.

But the focus on Wells’ bat has obscured his journey on the defensive side. Even though the first words out of Aaron Boone’s mouth regarding Wells after Thursday’s win was about his work behind the plate – and the same was true when it came to that afternoon’s starting pitcher, Carlos Rodon – the overwhelming amount of questions about Wells, and to Wells, were offense-oriented.

“I didn’t see him a lot, obviously, in the minor leagues, but I think the industry had real questions about him behind the plate, as did we even coming up through the system I know,” Boone said.

Of Wells’ progress there, Boone said: “It’s remarkable. It really is.”

Wells, who knew full well of his defensive reputation from Day 1 and the ensuing talk of eventually having to be moved to first base or even the outfield if he ever wanted to make it to the big leagues, set out from the beginning to change that narrative.

“It’s been, really, 100 percent of my focus since being drafted,” Wells said Thursday. “Just trying to help the team win in every way that I can, but I know that doing that behind the plate is the most important job for me, and helping our pitching staff get through games. That gives me more pride than, really, the [leadoff] home run.”

Multiple scouts, including one of the aforementioned, used the word “presence” in describing Wells. Boone used the word, as did another one of the pitchers who has thrown to the catcher the last year-plus.

“I would use the word presence,” Luke Weaver, who walked one and struck out two in a scoreless eighth inning Thursday, said, using “presence” unprompted. “He looks confident. He looks not indecisive. He looks like every time he gets back there, there’s just a percentage gained in the direction of confidence in decisiveness.”

Weaver’s quirky way with words has made him a hit with media and fans alike but his popular deadpan sense of humor also hides a sharp intellect and insight.

“And so when you’re out there, especially as a reliever, you’re coming in in big situations, you need somebody when you look at them, that looks like they’re carrying that type of confidence,” Weaver explained. “You feel confident, you automatically feel comfortable. As soon as you feel comfortable, it takes a lot of the stress off.”

Weaver said last year, his first full season with the Yankees, he took note of Wells as “someone who puts in the work” in his defensive preparation, not only in the obvious places like team meetings but “on flights” from one city to the next.

The work has, and continues to, pay off as Wells has become “one of the game’s really good defensive catchers,” Boone said.

Scouts and executives for years have bemoaned the lack of quality catching in the sport – at all levels – and the Yankees appear to be secure at the position for years to come.

“It’s a testament to the work he’s put in, it’s a testament to the coaches that have helped him along the way,” Boone said of Wells’ defense. “But ultimately his ability and his commitment [to it].”