{"id":376565,"date":"2026-10-19T01:42:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T01:42:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/376565\/"},"modified":"2026-10-19T01:42:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-19T01:42:11","slug":"aaron-judge-was-wrong-about-struggling-yankees-teammate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/376565\/","title":{"rendered":"Aaron Judge Was Wrong About Struggling Yankees Teammate"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 29: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees smiles after defeating the Boston Red Sox in game one of the American League Wild Card Series at Yankee Stadium on September 29, 2026 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Al Bello\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The New York Yankees<\/a> have a very talented roster.<\/p>\n

They finished the 2026 regular season as the second-place team in the American League East with a 93-68 record in 161 games.<\/p>\n

After sweeping the Boston Red Sox<\/a> in the Wild Card Series, the Yankees got swept by the Tampa Bay Rays<\/a> in the ALDS.<\/p>\n

Even worse, they lost the final game on their home field.<\/p>\n

Aaron Judge Was Wrong About Wells\"\"<\/a>GettyCarlos Rodon #55, Max Fried<\/a> #54, Austin Wells<\/a> #28 and Aaron Judge<\/a> #99 of the New York Yankees look on from the dugout during the first inning against the Minnesota Twins<\/a> at Yankee Stadium on July 03, 2026 in New York City.<\/p>\n

Before the season, Aaron Judge did an interview<\/a> with NBA star Kevin Durant<\/a> (via Boardroom).<\/p>\n

Judge spoke about his high hopes for Austin Wells.<\/p>\n

Durant: \u201cWho are some of the players on your team, underrated players you feel is going to have a breakout season for y\u2019all this year?\u2026Who do you feel is the X-factor for y\u2019all to take that next step? I\u2019m sure all of you guys need to step up, but who do you think is that guy that\u2019s going to help push y\u2019all over the top that not too many people know about?\u201d<\/p>\n

Judge: \u201cI got three guys in mind\u2026 Our catcher, Austin Wells, he\u2019s been with us for a while. We drafted him, and he\u2019s another guy that I see him tweaking, see him learning each year. But I think, man, he controls that pitching staff. You control the whole game. You\u2019re calling the game. You\u2019re doing all that, man. I think this will be a big year for him. He\u2019s really going to take that next step. And in the WBC, man, he hit a big homer for the Dominican\u2026 It\u2019s cool to see him doing his thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Wells did well behind the plate (and played better at the end of the year), he did not have a good offensive season.<\/p>\n

The former Arizona star batted just .186 with 14 home runs and 32 RBIs in 122 games.<\/p>\n

26,349 players have had at least 200 plate appearances in a single season this past century. <\/p>\n

Austin Wells is currently having one of the 100 worst seasons by a batter in the last 100 years with his 33 wRC+.<\/p>\n

Looking At Wells\"\"<\/a>GettyAustin Wells #28 of the New York Yankees chats with Ben Rice<\/a> #22 before game three of the American League Division Series against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium on October 07, 2026 in the Bronx borough of New York City.<\/p>\n

Wells was picked in the 1st round of the 2020 MLB<\/a> Draft.<\/p>\n

He has spent all four seasons of his career with the Yankees (and helped them reach the 2024 World Series).<\/p>\n

In 2025, the 27-year-old hit 21 home runs with 71 RBIs.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tBen Stinar<\/a> Ben Stinar has been covering the NBA for over seven years.\u00a0
\n
\nHe has written for OnSI, Forbes, Amico Hoops, The Big Lead and had a podcast with former All-Star Jameer Nelson. More about Ben Stinar<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 29: Aaron Judge #99 of the New York Yankees smiles after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":376566,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[9,11,10],"class_list":["post-376565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/376566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}