This season for Yankees catcher Austin Wells has been nothing short of a massive disappointment. In fact, according to Yankees beat writer Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News, “Wells is the worst hitter in Major League Baseball this year”, reports Phillips.
He cites how Wells ranks “last in batting average (.160), OPS (.510), and 45 WRC+“, states Phillips. Wells has been a net negative on the Yankees roster, posting a -0.3 WAR, wins above replacement in 2026. He has recorded just 26 hits in 162 plate appearances, and has only nine RBI’s on the season, and we are just under two weeks away from the All-Star Break, which is the halfway point of the MLB season.
Wells Has Been The Worst Yankees Hitter By OPS In 50 Years
To further put into comparison just how bad of a hitter Austin Wells has been this year, Talkin’ Yanks put out a tweet yesterday stating how Wells “has the lowest OPS by a Yankee in a given season since Jim Mason, who posted a .445 OPS in 1976 with at least 175 at bats”, reported TalkinYanks. A lot of today’s Yankees fans were probably not alive, or too young to remember, who Jim Mason is, let alone that this player was a New York Yankee at one point.
According to Yankees beat writer Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, Wells has a .160 batting average currently, just “four players in Yankees history have had a .160 average or worse in 185 plate appearances, including Joey Gallo (2021-22), Jim Mason (1975), Dick Howser (1968), states Kirschner. This is a problem the Yankees can no longer ignore, regardless of any value Wells brings on the defensive side of his game behind the plate and to the pitching staff.
The Yankees did call up catcher Ali Sanchez from Triple A earlier this month, and although it’s a small sample size, in 11 games, he’s hitting .286 with 3 RBI and a .729 OPS. Now, Austin Wells was never an incredible hitter. But he managed to hit 21 home runs in 2025 and never posted an OPS season below .700 until now. The drop off has been quite substantial, unprecedented even.
Wells, being the worst-qualified hitter in major league baseball, not only warrants a demotion conversation but also requires the Yankees to engage even more seriously in trade talks for a catcher.
Yankees Catcher Problem Grows Even Larger
This type of production isn’t up to the caliber of where the Yankees are trying to go in their championship aspirations. Wells has graded out as an above-average catcher in pitch framing, but he’s an average blocker and has below-average pop time, according to Baseball Savant. The pitching staff credits him for their success, as he has a great working relationship with many of the pitchers. Still, his bat has been so unplayable this year that it’s substantially lessening his overall value to the team.
The Yankees don’t have much catching depth to begin with, as they’ve traded several catchers in their system over the years, including Agustin Ramirez to the Marlins, Carlos Narvaez to the Red Sox, and Jesus Rodriguez to the Giants. The Yankees could look to replenish their farm system’s catching depth at this year’s upcoming MLB Draft, but they need an immediate solution at catcher in the interim right now during the months ahead. And as for Austin Wells, his Yankees future at the moment becomes rather uncertain.
Yankees’ Catcher Austin Wells Having Bad Season For The Ages