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New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone has devised a new plan to share the playing time between catchers Jose Trevino and Austin Wells for the remainder of the season. Boone said that Trevino will feature when the Yankees face a left-handed pitcher on the mound, while Wells will do so against a right-handed pitcher.
Jose Trevino started the campaign as the primary catcher for the Yankees until he was placed on the IL with a left quad strain in mid-July. He has returned to the lineup after spending a month on the sidelines and is batting .243/.304/.410 for the season with eight home runs and 27 RBIs.
Meanwhile, Austin Wells has been quite impressive, initially as the backup catcher and later when he was promoted into a regular role. Wells has a .252/.343/.417 slashline, including nine home runs and 36 RBIs, making him a contender for the Rookie of the Year in the American League.
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According to Bryan Hoch, the MLB.com correspondent covering the Yankees, manager Aaron Boone has devised a plan to tackle the workload between the two catchers based on statistical analysis.
"I've talked to Trevy and Austin about this. It's like, Trevy's really good and really holds his own at the plate and gives us something against the left-handed pitchers," Aaron Boone reportedly told Bryan Hoch.
"So it could work out that way, to where Trevy sees the lefties and Austin sees the righties. In a given week, that means one guy is playing a lot. Over the bulk of it, I see Wells playing more because typically you're going to face more right-handed pitchers," Boone added.
Although their overall stats seem quite even, the splits in the slugging percentages of Jose Trevino and Austin Wells were undoubtedly the chief reason behind this decision from Aaron Boone.
Trevino is slugging over .400 against both left- and right-handed pitching. Wells is slugging more than .450 against right-handers, but his percentage drops down to .225 against lefties on the mound.
Aaron Boone to keep Austin Wells as the everyday catcher?
Rated among the top prospects for the New York Yankees, Austin Wells was picked in the first round as the 28th overall pick of the 2020 MLB draft. The 24-year-old has become a new favorite among the Yankees fans with his solid glovework behind the plate as well as impressive offensive production.
Austin Wells came into his own after taking up the everyday role and was eventually promoted to the clean-up spot behind Juan Soto and Aaron Judge after Giancarlo Stanton was moved to the IL last month. He batted .315/.404/.511 with four home runs, 19 RBIs and an OPS of .915 when Jose Trevino was sitting on the sidelines.
Therefore, the Yankees could persist with Wells as the everyday catcher of the team.
