Yankees Manager Aaron Boone Reveals New Plan For Catchers Moving Forward
New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone revealed a surprising new plan for how the team will deploy its catching tandem.
Kerry Kauffman | 9 Hours Ago
Aug 16, 2024; Detroit, Michigan, USA; New York Yankees catcher Jose Trevino (39) chases down a pitch that got away from him against the Detroit Tigers in the sixth inning at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-USA TODAY Sports / Lon Horwedel-USA TODAY Sports
The New York Yankees head into the regular season's home stretch in a dogfight with the Baltimore Orioles for top record in the AL East.
Add in the Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals and there are five teams within three games for top record in the American League.
The Yankees have relied on a high-powered offense that has propelled the team to the best run differential in the league at +116 entering play on Tuesday night. The majority of this potent attack is etched in stone, but manager Aaron Boone has now surprisingly indicated a platoon behind the plate.
Jose Trevino will start against "most" left-handers, as Max Goodman of NJ Advance Media reported. Austin Wells will see the majority of his action behind the plate against right-handed pitchers. He is also likely to start against a lefty on Wednesday, per Goodman.
Boone also followed this up by saying he still sees Wells receiving a bulk of the playing time since the team mostly faces righties, via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.
While Trevino has proven to be one of the top defensive backstops in baseball, Wells has been impressive behind the plate too. And Wells has been even better on the other side of the diamond, emerging as a key factor in the Yankees' lineup, particularly out of the cleanup spot, where he was first placed on July 20.
Wells, 25, is hitting .352 with a .964 OPS in 17 games in the No. 4 hole. He has quickly become a key contributor to the Yankee offense, which is what makes this idea for a platoon a bit more puzzling.
Wells appeared in 19 games in 2023 in his first taste of MLB action. He hit .229 with four home runs in 70 at-bats. He has really come into his own this year and is batting a solid .252 with a .760 OPS, nine home runs and 36 RBI in 254 at-bats.
Time will tell whether Wells sees more action against lefties, but for now it appears that the Yankees want Trevino in there regularly when facing southpaws.
