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The Yankees head to Cleveland having accomplished what needed to be done in their two games at home, winning both with solid starting pitching, a reliable bullpen collection and, yes, an appearance from struggling star Aaron Judge, who has as many home runs (one) as strikeouts in the series.
But the Yankees are on their guard, even with the early series lead. As the series travels to the Midwest, there has been increasing speculation that manager Aaron Boone will make a lineup change, with struggling catcher Austin Wells getting a day off.
Wells has not had a hit in 10 days, and is 0-for-17 with eight strikeouts in his last four games.
With Guardians lefty Matthew Boyd starting in Game 3, broadcaster Michael Kay noted that the Yankees were likely to sit Wells and give righthanded hitter Jose Trevino the Game 3 start.
As “The Michael Kay Show” posted on Twitter/X ahead of Game 3, “There’s a good chance that Giancarlo Stanton will move up to the cleanup spot, and Jose Trevino will be in the lineup” –@RealMichaelKay on the Yankee lineup (Thursday), per sources.”
But the Yankees made the announcement official: Trevino is in, batting ninth. Wells is out. Also starting: Jon Berti will play first base in place of Anthony Rizzo.
Austin Wells Slumped to End the Season
Wells is a rookie who has been a steady presence in the Yankees’ lineup all season, and helped answer the team’s question at catcher from the get-go. He hit .229 this season with a respectable .322 on-base percentage and a .395 slugging mark.
He improved dramatically at the plate as the year went on, batting .277 in July and .325 in August before a late slump raised concerns about his fatigue level. He hit just .111 in September and October, and is now batting .083 in his six playoff appearances.
That’s a difficult number for a guy who manager Aaron Boone has been willing to keep in the cleanup spot, at least until now.
Back in late September, when he was struggling at the plate, Wells was asked whether the workload—the most he’s had in his career—was slowing him down.
“I don’t think so. I feel pretty good,” Wells said, via the New York Post. “It’s just baseball. Just ups and downs. The balls will fall when they need to, hopefully. … I feel good. Feel like I’m seeing the ball pretty well. It’s just a matter of swinging at the right pitches and not trying to do too much.”
Yankees Will Face Matthew Boyd
The Yankees will get a look at Boyd, one of the fell-good stories of the second half of the year in Cleveland. He was signed by the Guardians as a free agent back in July, when the team was desperately seeking rotation depth. He went 2-2 with a 2.72 ERA over eight starts, with a 1.134 WHIP.
Boyd is 33, and has been in the big leagues for 10 years, but spent most of those years with the Tigers and did not get to the postseason at all in Detroit. Heading into these playoffs, his sum total of postseason experience was 0.1 innings with Seattle in 2022.
He recorded two starts for the Guardians to open the playoffs, going 2.0 innings in a combo-pitcher win and losing a tough one, 3-0, in a more traditional start in which he went into the fifth inning and left with two outs. He did not get a decision or let up a run in that outing.
Facing the Yankees with the series pretty much on the line, though, is a different prospect for Boyd.
“I’ve spent the better parts of nine seasons watching the playoffs from home,” Boyd said. “I also had one year in Seattle. It’s one of those things where you’re like, ‘Man, I know my time is going to come to get
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Yankees Bench Struggling Cleanup Hitter for ALCS Game 3