Austin Wells was hitting.198 through the first 35 games of the 2026 season, a start that left the Yankees catcher looking up from the bottom half of the lineup and searching for a rhythm that has not come easily. Ahead of Tuesday night’s series opener against the Texas Rangers, he had just one double, three home runs and five RBI, with a.661 OPS.
Wells, 24, has already hit seventh, eighth and ninth this season, a sign of how little the bat has carried his value so far. He said the slump feels a long way from where he was a year ago, when he was putting together a much stronger stretch at the same point in the season.
That is not an empty comparison. Through 31 games last season, Wells had slashed.210/.265/.457 with six doubles, a triple, six home runs and 18 RBI. He also spent five games in the World Baseball Classic with Team Dominican Republic and hit.267 with two home runs, five RBI and a 1.086 OPS, a run that suggested his bat could play on a bigger stage. Instead, the early months of this season have been defined by a different set of numbers.
His struggles have been especially sharp in the situations that tend to shape a catcher’s reputation. Wells was slugging.133 with runners in scoring position this season, after hitting.250 in those spots last year. He was also hitting.125 against left-handed pitching, a split that stood out even more beside his career.205 average against lefties. Against breaking balls, he was at.125 this season after hitting.221 against them in 2025. He had at least one hit in three of his last five games, but the overall line remained hard to ignore.
The contrast around him is part of what makes the slow start matter now. Aaron Judge was hitting.272 with 14 home runs, 27 RBI and a 1.057 OPS through the first 35 games, while Ben Rice was slugging.343 with 12 home runs, 27 RBI and a 1.214 OPS. Those numbers have helped carry the Yankees’ early offense, leaving Wells to fit in around production that has been coming from elsewhere in the order.
The question is no longer whether Wells can point to better stretches in the past. It is whether he can turn those flashes into something stable before the season moves too far beyond the opening month and the Yankees are forced to keep adjusting around him.
