The New York Yankees let former infielder Gleyber Torres sign a one-year deal with the Detroit Tigers this offseason, and with him went the team’s leadoff hitter.
Though the Yankees experimented with a handful of names at the top of the order throughout the 2024 season, Torres turned out to be the best option. He began the season in that role before giving way to Anthony Volpe for a large chunk of the season. After Volpe’s struggles, the Yankees eventually went back to Torres in August, who kept the role with success through the World Series.
But the polarizing second baseman is gone, and the Yankees have another role to fill. From the early returns of spring training, New York may already have its answer in the form of catcher Austin Wells, per Greg Joyce of The New York Post.
“I like him there. It may continue to evolve. I don’t know that we’ve seen many lefty starters at all. I might change it up there if we were to see a left-handed starter possibly. But I’ve really liked him in that spot,” said manager Aaron Boone on Sunday. “I think he profiles well for it. But there’s also a number of guys I could still envision being in that role. That hasn’t changed necessarily. It’s more the fact that I just really like what I’m seeing with Austin and think he can be pretty dynamic there.”
Wells was first penciled into the leadoff spot this spring on Feb. 28. The second-year catcher, who placed third in the American League Rookie of the Year voting, hasn’t been moved from the top spot in the order since.
Wells has been working from the leadoff spot in 10 games this spring. Through Sunday’s game, which included a leadoff double and a walk in three at-bats, Wells is 11-for-31 (.355) with a 1.122 OPS and three home runs this spring.
The Yankees have so many new pieces entering the lineup in 2025. The departure of Juan Soto forced the Yankees to add hopeful bounce-back candidates like Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt. On top of that, Giancarlo Stanton is dealing with bilateral elbow injuries that are likely to put him on the injured list to begin the season.
After Wells took over the starting role in the middle of July last season, he turned in a fantastic rookie campaign. His 2.1 fWAR ranked behind only Milwaukee Brewers star William Contreras (2.7) and Seattle Mariners star Cal Raleigh (2.6), among all MLB catchers from July 12 on.
The Yankees need Wells to take a big step forward after a promising rookie campaign, and it seems as though he’ll need to do so from the top spot in the order.
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