BOSTON — You wouldn’t know it to watch or listen to him now, but the Yankees drafted Austin Wells in the first round largely because of his powerful left-handed bat.
There were questions both inside and outside the organization about whether Wells would develop enough at catcher to keep him behind the plate.
Now, the concern is if Wells can hit enough to be a viable option in the lineup.
The Yankees remain steadfast that Wells will be able to get going offensively, and Wells said, even after another hitless afternoon in a 4-1 loss to the Red Sox, he’s pleased with the progress he’s made at the plate since his minor league rehab stint after landing on the IL with cervical headaches.
“Today was the best and most comfortable I felt in the box so far,’’ Wells said of his post-IL games after still going 0-for-3 and seeing his average plummet to .160.
He noted that he’s been working to get more “tilt” back in his swing after flattening it over the years.
The goal, he said, was to allow him not to rely on having to make perfect contact in order to get a hit.
But Wells also noted that as much as it bothers him to fail to produce offensively, as he did Saturday, he’s more concerned with his work with the pitching staff.
Hitting, Wells said, is “not a secondary part of my game, but my No. 1 job is to control the pitching staff. If we’re not doing that, it doesn’t matter how many runs or hits I have. We can’t win the game.”
He’s continued to impress the pitchers and coaches with his ability to call games effectively and frame pitches.
“I know I have a huge impact when I’m behind the plate and keeping that the No. 1 focus makes it a lot easier to brush off an at-bat or couple of at-bats,’’ Wells said. “If I’m 0-for-3 on a day, obviously I’m pissed off about it, but to go out there and get to the eighth or ninth with a zero [from the other team] is the goal.”
Aaron Boone said he’s seen Wells’ offensive woes get to him “at certain times,’’ but not lately.
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And he agreed with Wells that he’s at least trending in the right direction.
“I feel he’s moving the needle right now, believe it or not,’’ Boone said. “He was really struggling there for a while. I feel he’s gaining traction. The results aren’t there yet.”
There are still those around the Yankees who fear all the information Wells — and the team’s other catchers — are tasked with keeping track of has cost him too much at the plate.
But the Yankees aren’t alone in making catcher a defense-oriented position.
Still, they need to get more out of Wells than the 2-for-17 he’s been since his return from the IL or the .510 OPS he’ll carry into Sunday, his lowest since mid-April — especially with so much of the rest of the offense struggling.
