Yankees Slugger on Fire for Playoffs
2025 wasn't easy on New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells. One year removed from winning the job from all-star catcher and platinum glove winner, Jose Trevino, he, too, lost his catching duties. Ben Rice became the new backstop as Wells saw sporadic playing time in parts of July and August. It was a far cry from how his season began, when he started the season homering from the leadoff spot for the Yankees on Opening Day.
Things turned around on the field where Wells made his bones in the minors when, at the end of August, he blasted two home runs at George S. Steinbrenner Field against the Tampa Bay Rays. Up to that point, Wells had five plate appearances in five days and came in twice as a defensive substitute for Rice late in games. To go from sitting to then blasting Pete Fairbanks, one of the best closers in baseball, is no easy feat.
Before that game in Tampa, Wells was hitting .206/.263/.405 with an 82 wRC+ on the season. Since then, Wells is hitting .282/.333/.590 with a 150 wRC+ in his last 88 plate appearances. The hot streak raised his numbers on the year to .221/.277/.442 with a 96 wRC+.
Wells' bat has had more thump to it, too. During this span, he has an average exit velocity of 92 MPH and a 13.2% barrel rate. It is up from his season averages of 90 MPH and 9.9%.
Wells has been especially hot the last two weeks. He has had a multi-hit game in four of his previous eight games. In those 22 plate appearances, he has only struck out four times as well.
After a two-hit game against the Chicago White Sox in another must-win game, one of a slew of must-win games for the Yankees, Wells was asked about his swing and what had changed. The fiery catcher was nonchalant about this streak.
"It feels pretty good," Wells said, according to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. "I'm just trying to put the ball in play and trying not to hit it where they're at. For me, I feel like it's been working a little bit better than it did over the beginning of the year. I'm rolling with it."
The Seattle Mariners may have the American League MVP on their roster, but heading into the postseason, the Yankees' catching situation isn't without its power either. Manager Aaron Boone can plug and play his two young mashing lefties, Wells and Rice, who have a combined 45 home runs between them. Both have shown the ability to handle a pitching staff, and Rice will play wherever he is asked and has answered every call spectacularly.
In the second game against the Chicago White Sox, he caught ace Max Fried. Fried, of course, put on another masterful performance, helping to inch the Yankees closer to winning the American League East. From a position of weakness for a majority of the year, the catching situation looks more stable heading into the postseason.
Jenna Johnson Shares Sweet Photo Hugging Corey Feldman After ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Elimination
Jenna Johnson is reflecting on her short-lived time with partner Corey Feldman on Dancing With the Stars
After the pair were eliminated from the competition on Tuesday, September 23, Jenna, 31, took to her Instagram Story to share a sweet photo, in which she wrapped her arms around Corey, 54. Jenna added a broken-heart emoji on top of the pic.
Corey and Jenna earned a score of 9 in the premiere episode after dancing a tango to Billy Joel’s “It’s Still Rock & Roll To Me,” before receiving a score of 15 for their cha-cha to
“Jenna is amazing. I really enjoyed her. I feel really terrible because she deserves better, personally speaking. She was the queen from last year, so she deserves to be the champ every year in my book,” Corey said after their exit, referring to Jenna’s season 33 win with
Ahead of the pair’s elimination, Maksim Chmerkovskiy — a former DWTS pro and the brother of Jenna’s husband, Val Chmerkovskiy — claimed that there was trouble behind-the-scenes with Jenna and Corey.
“Obviously, Jenna has a bit of an uphill climb with Corey, which is easy for everybody to say from [the outside], but I know that she’s having a much more difficult time with this entire thing and to the point that it is really difficult for her,” Maksim told the
Maksim also asked fans to show” respect” to “reigning champ” Jenna. “Don’t forget, this production is not just about you and your partner dancing, it’s about this massive behemoth of everything that’s happening,” Maksim continued. “The amount of people that you have to deal with, the amount of interviews, and this is all between your rehearsal time and your therapy, and you are trying to lick your wounds and all that stuff.”
Us Weekly has reached out to representatives for Jenna and Corey for comment.
Weeks before the season premiere, Corey shared with Us that he felt he “may have let [Jenna] down a little bit already.”
“I’m sure when she opened the door [she] was like, ‘Oh, God, what do I have to deal with?’” Corey quipped, before noting he was happy to be partnered with Jenna. “I’m very grateful that I have somebody so eloquent when it comes to the dance floor, and knowing everything, the moves, the rhythms, the styles [and] the technique. She’s the reigning queen, so I’m very grateful that I was lucky enough to land her as my partner.”
