New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells entered Tuesday’s series opener against the Red Sox with a disappointing .180/.344/.260 line, one home run, two RBI, and a 78 wRC+. For a player who posted a 107 wRC+ in 2024 and a 94 mark last year, it’s certainly a step back.
By now, we all know that Wells is a solid defender and an elite framer, and that’s still the case in 2026. His ceiling as a player, however, will be closely tied to his offensive ability, and right now, his output has been nothing to write home about. It’s still April, though, and there’s some light at the end of the tunnel if we look under the hood.
Wells hasn’t overhauled his swing mechanics or made any huge changes to his timing mechanism. His .356 xwOBA on contact is very close to last year’s .364, in fact. What’s notable so far is that he seems much more willing to take pitches and be more patient overall.
At 45 percent, he is swinging less than ever, and certainly less often than last year’s 50.7 percent mark. He is also chasing a lot less too, with his 24.1 percent rate being considerably lower than 2025’s 29.2 percent. Of course, this has led to some missed opportunities at the plate, as his 65 percent meatball swing rate is also way lower than last year’s 82.7 percent mark, but it has also resulted in an incredible 20.3 percent walk rate that ranks him in the 97th percentile before Tuesday’s games.
The increasingly patient approach has Wells’ expected wOBA, or xwOBA, at .350, in the 68th percentile. That’s much better than his .283 wOBA, so he has deserved better outcomes if we judge by plate discipline and quality of contact.
That .350 xwOBA would be his best mark outside of his brief 19-game cameo as a rookie in 2023:
These things will likely even out in time: his walk rate will likely decrease a bit, his meatball swing percentage will likely go up, and the gap between his wOBA and expected wOBA will shrink. At what point do these metrics stabilize? That’s the real question, but Wells’ intent here is clear: he appears to be more willing to work himself into favorable counts that will allow him to do damage.
And he’s doing it, at least from a strict plate discipline standpoint. Before Tuesday’s game, Wells had worked 13 walks and struck out just 12 times. He’s raised his walk rate over 16 points over last year’s 6.7 percent mark, and his 18.8 percent strikeout rate is vastly superior than last year’s 26.3 percent.
Contact-wise, there are things to be excited about. Wells is sporting a healthy 48.7 percent hard-hit rate, ranking him in the 79th percentile. He is also sporting an average exit velocity of 92.1 mph, a career best. Wells appears to be trying to pull his fly balls more often, as he boasts a career-high 48 percent pull rate in that department. He had never surpassed 40 percent before this year. However, he is also hitting more grounders than last year (46.2 percent vs. 33 percent), so he might need to try to lift the ball more often.
Overall, Wells remains a talented young hitter with room to improve, and he’s certainly playing better than his current stats suggest. If he can trade some grounders for line drives and fly balls, and if he can pounce on hittable strikes more often, he will be fine over the long haul. His plate discipline has been outstanding so far, and as long as that’s the case, he’ll be putting himself in situations to succeed.