{"id":698366,"date":"2026-06-11T20:20:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T20:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/698366\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T20:20:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T20:20:16","slug":"the-yankees-have-a-problem-behind-the-plate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/698366\/","title":{"rendered":"The Yankees have a problem behind the plate"},"content":{"rendered":"

Austin Wells<\/a>\u2019 injury has put the Yankees in quite a difficult spot. It\u2019s safe to say that right now, their catching situation is among the worst in the league because even when Wells was healthy, he was sporting a woeful 54 wRC+. And that\u2019s the starter behind the plate.<\/p>\n

The cold, hard numbers show just how bad the Yankees\u2019 catchers have been this year, especially since the start of May. Per Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, since May 1, the team\u2019s backstops had a combined 8 wRC+, a slash line of .130\/.205\/.165, and a strikeout rate of 30.7 percent before Wednesday\u2019s matinee in Cleveland, and they hadn\u2019t even reached base in June. That\u2019s just rough.<\/p>\n

Since the Yanks are reluctant to try Ben Rice<\/a> behind the plate, which is fair and understandable for many reasons ranging from catching defense to not overloading Rice with the burden of learning a pitching staff, they really need to bring in someone, even if it\u2019s not a star.<\/p>\n

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The in-house solutions are J.C. Escarra, who entered Wednesday\u2019s game with a 25 wRC+, newly promoted backup option Al\u00ed S\u00e1nchez<\/a>, a non-roster invitee in spring who had a 22 wRC+ for his career in the majors and an 88 mark in Triple-A before taking the field, 26-year-old career minor leaguer Abrahan Guti\u00e9rrez, and Miguel Palma. Payton Henry<\/a> could have earned a call-up, but he\u2019s currently on Scranton\u2019s injured list.<\/p>\n

The Yankees have trusted Wells for years, almost blindly, to the point of trading multiple catching prospects over the years because he was the unquestioned starter. He was, after all, a 2024 AL Rookie of the Year finalist. He\u2019s at a bit of a crossroads, though, with just 0.2 fWAR and a horrible .533 OPS this year before going down with cervical headaches.<\/p>\n

It appears his stint on the injured list will be short, but even if that\u2019s the case, it\u2019s becoming increasingly clear that he needs some sort of competition for playing time and at-bats. Given the bleak outlook of the position in the organization, a trade shouldn\u2019t be ruled out. It would actually be the best idea, all things considered.<\/p>\n

Of course, getting an impact catcher via trade in the middle of the season is not exactly realistic. Teams just don\u2019t give those away so easily. However, the Yankees should be on the market for a backup-type backstop who can start for stints and not embarrass himself. Think about how even an 80-wRC+ catcher would improve the bottom of the lineup.<\/p>\n

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You probably won\u2019t see any deals for Adley Rutschman<\/a>, Hunter Goodman<\/a>, or Dillon Dingler<\/a>, for example, but perhaps a veteran who\u2019s still a decent hitter, or a failed prospect behind the plate with a decent floor, could become viable options for New York. They need catching help badly, and if Wells doesn\u2019t return to form eventually, the position could become the team\u2019s Achilles heel heading into the stretch run and October.<\/p>\n

Right now, the Yankees have several areas in which they could potentially improve. They could definitely use a late-inning reliever or two, for example. No need is as big as the one they have behind the dish, though, and they need to do something about it.<\/p>\n

By now, it\u2019s well-established that the organization loves a good framer who can handle the pitching staff well. There\u2019s a lot of catching talent around the league, so it\u2019s just a matter of finding the right fit with a team that is actually willing to part with one.<\/p>\n

It won\u2019t be as easy as it sounds, even if the hypothetical player in question is not a star, because many clubs are contending or in a weird gray area in which they are close enough to contention that they won\u2019t want to part with assets. But the Yankees need to make an effort, even if it means overpaying a bit. Bringing in a catcher who can compete with Wells and play some decent baseball when he\u2019s not around is a must.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Austin Wells\u2019 injury has put the Yankees in quite a difficult spot. It\u2019s safe to say that right…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":698367,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[10780,179228,4700,27449,241704,852,2320,115094,41709,16742,175274,13090,363,369,188812,302309,99,148086],"class_list":["post-698366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-adley-rutschman","tag-ali-sanchez","tag-austin-wells","tag-ben-rice","tag-chris-kirschner","tag-cleveland","tag-cleveland-guardians","tag-dillon-dingler","tag-hunter-goodman","tag-icon-sportswire","tag-j-c-escarra","tag-major-league-baseball","tag-mlb","tag-new-york-yankees","tag-payton-henry","tag-per-chris-kirschner","tag-sports","tag-strikeout-rate"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=698366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/698366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/698367"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=698366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=698366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=698366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}