‘Streaky’ Austin Wells still trying to find swing amid Yankees early slump

Even when Austin Wells does something right these days, he’s not being rewarded. 

The slumping catcher hammered a 106-mph shot to right field that seemed destined for the bleachers in the bottom of the second on Friday. 

But his home run trot was interrupted by the fact the ball hit the top of the wall and bounced back onto the field for a double. 

Wells said after a 9-1 loss to San Francisco in a rain-shortened defeat that he “for sure” thought the ball was gone. 

“I guess if I realized the wind was blowing that way, I would have run harder,’’ Wells said. 

It was the latest bit of offensive misfortune for Wells, who came up through the minors known for his left-handed bat, but whose defense was shaky enough to where there were questions about whether he would stick at catcher. 

Throughout the Yankee organization, though, Wells has won praise for his work ethic behind the plate, which has helped turn him into a solid defensive catcher. 

Yankee pitchers like throwing to him and Wells has proven to be adept at stealing strikes and calling a good game.

What hasn’t translated as much, both early this season and toward the end of his rookie year of 2024, is the expected production on offense. 

Wells finished the regular season a year ago in a 3-for-45 tailspin in his final 13 games prior to the playoffs and those struggles continued into October, when he went 6-for-50 with a .460 OPS in the team’s run to the World Series. 

Throughout the slump, Wells acknowledged his difficulty hitting balls up in the strike zone. 

There was optimism heading into this season that the experience would only make Wells better in ’25, but so far, that hasn’t been the case. 

After homering in each of his first two games of the season, Wells entered Friday’s series opener against the Giants on another chilly, wet night in The Bronx in another rut. 

In his previous nine games, Wells was just 5-for-31 with two extra-base hits — no homers — a pair of walks and nine strikeouts. 

Scouts who have seen him this season aren’t especially alarmed, but they are taking note. 

“He’s shown he’s a streaky hitter and that would be what I’d say is going on now,’’ one American League scout said. “But you don’t want these downturns to last too long if that’s the case.” 

Wells is seeing more fastballs this year (61.6 percent compared to 49.8 percent last year, according to Statcast) and remains inconsistent against the pitch. 

He hit seventh in the lineup Friday against San Francisco left-hander Robbie Ray, coming off having struck out twice in three consecutive games. 

After it seemed like he might hit leadoff, especially against right-handers, on a regular basis, Wells’ inability to get on base at the same pace as he did a year ago has meant Ben Rice has typically found himself in that spot when the Yankees are facing righties. 

Wells has been at the top of the lineup just once this year, on Opening Day against the Brewers. 

His six-homer spring, when Wells practically lived on the basepaths, has become a distant memory, as are his two early homers when the torpedo bat was all the rage in The Bronx.