Yankees Austin Wells insists hes feeling more…
BOSTON — You wouldn’t understand it to watch or hear to him now, but the Yankees drafted Austin Wells in the first spherical largely because of his highly effective left-handed bat.
There had been questions both inside and exterior the group about whether or not Wells would develop enough at catcher to keep him behind the plate.
Now, the priority is if Wells can hit enough to be a viable option in the lineup.
The Yankees stay steadfast that Wells will likely be in a position to get going offensively, and Wells said, even after another hitless afternoon in a 4-1 loss to the Red Sox, he’s happy with the progress he’s made at the plate since his minor league rehab stint after touchdown on the IL with cervical complications.
“Today was the best and most snug I felt in the box so far,’’ Wells said of his post-IL video games after still going 0-for-3 and seeing his average plummet to .160.
Austin Wells is pictured during the Yankees’ June 5 recreation. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post
He famous that he’s been working to get more “tilt” back in his swing after flattening it over the years.
The aim, he said, was to permit him not to rely on having to make excellent contact in order to get a hit.
But Wells also famous that as a lot as it bothers him to fail to produce offensively, as he did Saturday, he’s more involved with his work with the pitching workers.
Hitting, Wells said, is “not a secondary part of my game, but my No. 1 job is to control the pitching staff. If we’re not doing that, it doesn’t matter how many runs or hits I have. We can’t win the game.”
He’s continued to impress the pitchers and coaches with his capacity to call video games successfully and body pitches.
“I know I have a huge impact when I’m behind the plate and keeping that the No. 1 focus makes it a lot easier to brush off an at-bat or couple of at-bats,’’ Wells said. “If I’m 0-for-3 on a day, obviously I’m pissed off about it, but to go out there and get to the eighth or ninth with a zero [from the other team] is the goal.”
Aaron Boone said he’s seen Wells’ offensive woes get to him “at sure occasions,’’ but not recently.
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And he agreed with Wells that he’s at least trending in the proper direction.
“I feel he’s moving the needle right now, believe it or not,’’ Boone said. “He was really struggling there for a while. I feel he’s gaining traction. The results aren’t there yet.”
There are still those around the Yankees who concern all the knowledge Wells — and the workforce’s other catchers — are tasked with preserving monitor of has value him an excessive amount of at the plate.
But the Yankees aren’t alone in making catcher a defense-oriented place.
Still, they need to get more out of Wells than the 2-for-17 he’s been since his return from the IL or the .510 OPS he’ll carry into Sunday, his lowest since mid-April — particularly with so a lot of the remaining of the offense struggling.
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