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HOUSTON — Being a rookie is tough. Being a catcher is intricate. Being both — while learning a new pitching staff in the middle of a season — seems daunting.
And yet, early reviews say Austin Wells is doing a great job with all of it after three games in the majors.
“I’ve been extremely impressed with just kind of the aptitude and how he’s stepped into this environment,” Yankees catching coordinator Tanner Swanson told the Daily News, noting that Wells has to manage the PitchCom, pitch clock and running game signs, in addition to learning new pitchers and opposing hitters on the fly. “All things considered, he’s been able to step back there and kind of manage the moment and really just lock in on the task at hand, which is a challenge for a lot of young players.”
Swanson spoke before the Yankees completed their sweep of the Astros with a 6-1 win on Sunday. In addition to recording an RBI double, Wells nabbed the very first big league base-stealer to test him after the 24-year-old only threw out 13% of runners in the minors this season.
“Getting that first one under the belt on the first steal was really awesome,” said Wells, who underwent surgery on his throwing elbow in high school and implemented a weighted ball program in the Yankees’ system to improve his arm strength.
Wells also caught five innings of one-run ball from Michael King on Sunday. The right-hander, who is trying to establish himself as a starter after a few years in the Yankees bullpen, went out of his way to praise Wells’ work after throwing to him for the first time.
“He had a great gameplan going in,” King said, unprompted. “He’s phenomenal at adjusting and a real great communicator. We had a ton of conversations in between innings about what we think they were doing, what they were sitting on, different sequences to use. I loved working with him.”
Tommy Kahnle, who threw two perfect innings after King, also used the word “loved” to describe working with Wells. Luis Severino highlighted the backstop’s game-calling on Saturday, while Carlos Rodón, who threw to Wells during a rehab assignment, said the catcher had a “great” debut behind the plate on Friday.
Clay Holmes, whose sinker can challenge unfamiliar catchers, used the word “seamless” to describe the novice.
“His targets were good. He received the ball well,” Holmes told the News after throwing to Wells for the first time this weekend. “He wasn’t really overmatched with the sinker.”
King also noticed that Wells didn’t have trouble with Holmes’ sinker.
“He’s making his sinker not look that good, and I’m like, ‘What is going on?’” King said, complimenting Wells’ receiving. “But it’s just Wells is so good back there that he knew how to handle the staff and called a really good game.”
Every pitcher that was asked about Wells had nothing but positive things to say. When told of that and King’s approval on Sunday, Wells credited the pitching staff for his strong weekend.
“They’ve done a really good job communicating with me what they’re trying to do,” he said. “That’s made my job a lot easier being able to call the pitches that have given them high success.
“It gives me all the confidence in the world to have the guys on the mound be able to trust me right off the bat.”
That so many pitchers lauded Wells’ catching may come as a surprise to anyone who has followed his career.
The Arizona product’s defense has been criticized since the Yankees drafted Wells 28th overall in 2020, and there has been plenty of speculation about him changing positions. Considered an bat-first prospect, Wells has been adamant about remaining a catcher.
Kyle Higashioka, a veteran, glove-first catcher, said that he doesn’t quite get the knocks against Wells.
“People keep saying that, but I don’t really see it,” Higashioka told the News of the defensive question marks. “Nothing jumps out to me.”
Higashioka added that how a catcher handles a pitching staff is “the most important thing.” He thinks Wells is “doing a good job of that.”
Swanson said that Higashioka, who could be forced out by Wells after this season, has served as a “sounding board” for his younger teammate. He’s helped Wells learn pitchers’ preferences and the specific verbiage they like to use.
That information helped Wells when he had pregame conversations with Yankees pitchers throughout the weekend. While Swanson noted that the team’s advanced prep and game-calling processes at the MLB level are similar to what they do at Triple-A, Wells made sure to take notes, ask questions, and chat with pitchers, coaches and support staff. He also offered and requested feedback during the games.
“You could tell he’s very invested in it,” Holmes said. “We had conversations before the game, just kind of like my preferences and things I liked and whatnot. You could tell he was very prepared. Basically felt like he was on top of everything. Nothing felt really sped up.
Added Swanson: “He’s very capable of taking in information and taking in feedback and making adjustments quickly, which is a really good trait.”
While Wells’ weekend went off without a hitch on defense, it was his preparation that caught Aaron Boone’s eye.
“He has a presence to him. He’s got a thirst for it,” Boone said. “He takes a lot of pride in not only preparing as a hitter, but preparing as a catcher for the opposing lineup. He seems to have that passion, that kind of baseball thing you need to have as a catcher. And I think he’s, going back to even spring training and now, got off to a good start relationally with some veteran pitchers and some really good pitchers.”
Of course, Wells, whose spring training was interrupted by a fractured rib, still has progress to make.
He doesn’t know everything he needs to know about his new pitchers after one weekend in the majors, and he still needs some refining. When asked what Wells needs to work on most, Swanson talked about his framing, a skill the Yankees have prioritized behind the plate in recent years.
“Everybody’s good at this skill, so the margins are extremely small and the adjustments are often very, very fine,” Swanson said. “An inch here, a slight adjustment with timing, maybe not being as early, being able to trust your eyes and process information and really slow things down. Small tweaks in how maybe he’s loading the glove for a particular pitch. So all very, very minor things that are very, very common discussions that we have with all catchers. But just from day one to day two, he made a big jump.
“I have no doubt that he’s going to continue to make strides in that regard.”
Wells will also be tested if and when he gets a chance to catch Gerrit Cole.
The ace, gunning for a Cy Young award, is scheduled to make his next start Tuesday when the Yankees begin a series with the Tigers. Boone said that Ben Rortvedt will likely catch that game — hardly a surprise — but the skipper didn’t completely rule out the possibility of Wells receiving Cole, who can be especially particular when it comes to his catchers.
“I don’t know what I need to see. I mean, I just want to make sure that you’re putting guys in the best position for success,” Cole told the News Sunday when asked what he wants to see from a young catcher like Wells. “He’s catching tonight, so he’s got three games in a row. Maybe watching the game makes him better for the next game in terms of maybe catching me or for the rest of the series against Detroit. I feel like that’s probably a better question for the manager. But I just give a s—t if guys prepare and give 100 percent, which we never really have an issue with.”
While it doesn’t sound like Wells will catch Cole just yet, the right-hander added that the rookie “looks the part” and has fit in right away. That sentiment echoed throughout the Yankees clubhouse in Houston.
While the sample is small, Wells’ catching career seems to be off to a strong start. If nothing else, it’s clear that his craft means a great deal to him.
On Sunday, he went as far as to say that he cares more about his defense than his offense.
“Being able to go back there and have the game in my hands, really calling the pitches every play, is very important to me,” Wells said. “Being able to call the right pitches at the right time, that’s what helps us win ballgames. So arguably, catching is definitely more important to me when I’m going out there behind the plate.
“I mean, hitting is definitely important, but being able to go back there and get outs and control the pitching staff, that’s my No. 1 goal.”
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