Austin Wells is about to do something that no New York Yankees catcher has ever done in more than 18,000 games played by the franchise.
Not Yogi Berra, Thurman Munson, Elston Howard, Bill Dickey, Jorge Posada or any other catcher.
When the Yankees open their season on Thursday against the Brewers, Wells will bat leadoff. Never before has a Bronx Bomber backstop led off the batting order in a regular season game.
“It doesn’t matter where I’m at,” Wells told MLB.com, “as long as I’m in the lineup.”
Manager Aaron Boone made the news official on Tuesday after it had been speculated for most of the spring.
It’s not an unprecedented move MLB-wide, although it’s a bit uncommon. Jason Kendall was really the standard bearer for the role, batting leadoff 463 times in his career.
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Catchers don’t overlap in a lot of the skill set that used to be envisioned atop the order, particularly speed.
Now, though, it’s about getting on base and providing a bit of thump. Especially with Aaron Judge in the No. 2 spot, it’s more important that there’s a guy on base to trot around on a home run than it is to have someone who can steal bases.
Wells’ .322 on-base percentage ranked fifth among AL rookies in 2024. His most common batting lineup spot was No. 4, behind Juan Soto and Judge.
This year, it’ll be Wells and his mustache setting the table for the big boppers behind him in a way no Yankees catcher has ever done before.
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