In the months of July and August, he came out of nowhere - or at least Wilks Barre - to hit .300 with 9 HRS and protect Aaron Judge in the batting order. Not since the immortal Kraken, Gary Sanchez, waaaaaay back in 2016, had a young Yankee catcher conjured so much hope. Entering September, Wells was odds-on favorite to win AL Rookie of the Year.
Then came that fateful month, with the falling leaves drifting by our window panes. In the last six weeks, Wells hit .111 with 1 HR and 20 whiffs, surely his most awkward period since puberty. It was painful. Also, his slump carried into the postseason, when he batted .120, though one HR did come against the ultra-rich Dodgers, briefly bringing hope in that otherwise dreadful week.
We must also note that Wells made himself into a MLB-quality defensive catcher, which had been our fears, early on, when he was tabbed as a 1B who could occasionally catch. Not anymore. He is our front line catcher, no turning back, and nobody behind him in at depth chart that used to be - (thinking Higgy and Jose Trevino) - rather formidable.
Right now, the Yankee roster shows Wells and somebody named J.C. Escarra, a 29-year-old mope who hit .201 last year in the minors. There's also Alex Jackson, also 29, who hit .122 last year for Tampa. And Ben Rice, last year's momentary wunderkind, who might be a 1B who can occasionally catch. (And who needs a few months at Wilkes Barre.)
So, which Austin Wells will show up this season?
The one who mashed in midsummer, or the one who ran out of gas on Aug. 1?
If Wells hits, the Yankee lineup looks formidable. If he doesn't, things could go sideways by June 1. We might need that A.I.-powered toilet - for the paperwork, of course.
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18 comments:
June 1st is admirably optimistic…….
Personally, I’m more interested in the AI powered urinal.
More on that later.
Fairly certain that Wells will never be an impactful MLB hitter. He has a long, slow swing and worse, he started pulling off the ball in an attempt to generate more power, resulting in the worst 6 weeks of any player last year. Of course, there is always help that good coaching could correct his bad habits, but the Yankees have the worst hitting coaches in the league. Compounding the situation is the fact the team has zero quality depth behind him (having traded their best C prospect) making it quite likely that catcher, not third base, will be the weak link in the lineup this season.
The Yankee lineup looks formidable? Formidable. Sure. Whatever gets you through the long winter nights, I guess.
Resist.
FUCK HAL.
I recently had a malfunctioning AI toilet. It suddenly and quickly slammed the toilet seat down while I was peeing. Damn thing nearly "mousetrapped" my manhood.
Carl, I am no longer shackled by the idea of this arbitrary thing called “manhood.“ I have aged out of all that. I’ve not aged out of toilet seats, though, and I don’t trust artificial intelligence enough to let it manage my toilet functions. What could possibly go wrong With that concept? Ask for catching. Any of the great Yankee teams, all of the great Yankee teams, share one thing: a really strong catcher and strength of the middle. When was the last time we had that? Everything else around here is just conversation. It’s conversation that I cherish and it might be the one thing that keeps me saying through these very very very dark years, but we are a paper tiger at best.
"a 29 year old mope"
I bow in the general direction of the Salt City.
In the right hands......toilets and urinals can be quite amusing. Their potential is still mostly, untapped.
13B...I hear you on that aging/manhood thing. But hope springs eternal.LOL @ "springs". May I sugest beet juice and ginseng? Or a pill. I agree, we are a paper tiger and might soon be surpassed by the Detroit Tigers.
999, Yankees coaches "help" a player? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Stop, you're killin' me! Or the Yankees are...
...I look back once again to the 2018-19 off-season, when supposedly the Yankees could have had the incredible J.T. Realmuto for Sanchez, straight up. This seems pretty credible, considering that Miami ended up trading him to Philly for Jorge Alfaro, Sixto Sanchez, and Will Stewart...
...Surely, the Yanks could have topped that with the then, still-well-regarded Kraken. Philly went on to sign Realmuto for what now seems like the incredibly cheap $115.5 million over 5 years.
Hey, I guess that's what you can do when you actually have a pretty good appraisal of:
—What the market will be
—What your own players' abilities are—both the equivalent of quantum physics for the Yankees' front office...
...With Realmuto, the best catcher in baseball for seven years and counting, all of the Yanks' endless catching woes become simply little squabbles over which back-up is best. But...no could do.
After all, Sanchez, like so many others at so many positions, was a Cashie signing, and thus had to be allowed to play until his ineptitude could no longer be ignored...
...I will add only that, on top of the fact that, obviously, the league (and the other league) figured Wells out last year, there was the fact that his amateurish interference on Ohtani was what actually cost us the winning run in Game Five, a fact subsequently much obscured by the antics of The Hideous Fifth Inning.
For 2025, I think you can count on a full-scale meltdown, Kraken-style sub-.200 batting average, vanishing power, and deteriorating defense. But hey, what, us worry?
Horace....I agree with you on Wells because of the Yankees track record helping their catchers and other position players to adjust to what the league has done to exploit their weaknesses. Frankly, I'd rather see Dawn Wells behind the plate, especially if she wears those cute shorts.
AI powered urinal for the win.
urinals could be a theme for 2025
Jack Curry reports:
“… Carlos Carrasco has signed a minor league deal with the Yankees. He was 3-10 with a 5.64 ERA in 103 2/3 innings with Cleveland last season. Carrasco turns 38 in March.”
If only we were playing in a Senior’s League…
Hey... three wins!
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