Yankees' Austin Wells: Drawing third straight start
Rotowire
Wells will start at catcher and bat ninth in Sunday's game against the Red Sox.
Wells' playing time had taken a hit recently with the Yankees beginning to hand Ben Rice more work behind the plate, but Wells will make his third straight start at catcher to close out the series with Boston. Rice will occupy first base Sunday while Paul Goldschmidt gets squeezed out of the lineup for a second straight matchup with a right-handed starting pitcher (Dustin May).
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Yankees' Austin Wells: Smacks two homers in Tampa
Rotowire
Wells went 2-for-4 with two solo home runs in Wednesday's 6-4 extra-inning win over the Rays.
Wells took Drew Rasmussen deep in the fifth inning, then went back-to-back with Giancarlo Stanton in the 10th off Tampa Bay closer Pete Fairbanks. The backstop has been losing playing time lately to Ben Rice due to a slump that had seen him bat just .119 (7-for-59) since the All-Star break, but Wednesday's breakout -- Wells' first multi-hit performance since July 9 -- might be a sign he's ready to reclaim No. 1 duties behind the plate.
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Yankees' Austin Wells: Losing out on playing time
Rotowire
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said in his appearance on Jomboy Media's "Talkin' Yanks" podcast that Wells will be out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Rays.
Wells will head to the bench for the fifth time in seven games and appears to have moved into the No. 2 spot on the depth chart while the Yankees have become increasingly more comfortable with using Ben Rice behind the plate. Though Wells remains the superior defender of the two, he hasn't helped his case for earning regular playing time by slashing an abysmal .119/.172/.186 with a 25 percent strikeout rate since the All-Star break.
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Yankees' Austin Wells: Taking seat Monday
Rotowire
Wells is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Twins.
Wells will get a breather for the series opener while Ben Rice steps in behind the plate. Dating back to the All-Star break, Wells has posted a lowly .130/.186/.204 slash line over 16 games. His ongoing struggles could cost him more playing time if the Yankees are comfortable using Rice behind the plate more frequently in order to open up first base for Paul Goldschmidt.
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Yankees' Austin Wells: Sitting against southpaw
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Wells isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against Houston.
The lefty-hitting Wells will get a breather Saturday while the lefty-throwing Framber Valdez takes the mound for the Astros. Ben Rice will start behind the plate and bat fifth.
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Yankees' Austin Wells: Getting breather Tuesday
Rotowire
Wells isn't in the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Rangers.
Wells will take a seat Tuesday after going 1-for-5 with a run scored during Monday's series opener. Ben Rice will catch instead for starter Will Warren and bat second.
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Yankees' Austin Wells: Not in Saturday's lineup
Rotowire
Wells isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Marlins, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.
Wells will use Saturday to rest after going 1-for-5 with a run scored during Friday's high-scoring loss. While Wells sits, Ben Rice will catch for starter Cam Schlittler and bat sixth.
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Yankees' Austin Wells: Taking Thursday off
Rotowire
Wells is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Rays.
Wells will receive a breather for the day game after he went 1-for-4 while catching all 11 innings of Wednesday night's 5-4 win. Ben Rice will replace Wells behind the plate Thursday.
Wells isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Phillies.
Wells will rest his legs Saturday after hitting his 15th home run of the season during Friday's loss. Ben Rice will take his place behind the plate and bat sixth for the Yankees.
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Yankees' Austin Wells: Clubs 15th homer
Rotowire
Wells went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Friday's 12-5 loss to the Phillies.
The Yankees slugged four homers on the night but all four were solo shots, including Wells' long ball in the second inning off Taijuan Walker. The 26-year-old backstop has supplied his usual power in July but not much else, slashing .229/.255/.521 over 14 contests with four of his 15 homers on the year, and 10 of his 55 RBI.
Wells is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Blue Jays.
Wells will get a breather for the series finale after he started behind the dish Monday and Tuesday. J.C. Escarra will form a battery Wednesday with starting pitcher Max Fried.
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Yankees' Austin Wells: Receiving Sunday off
Rotowire
Wells is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against Atlanta.
Wells went 1-for-8 with an RBI and a run while starting the first two games of the series and will take a seat for Sunday's finale. Ben Rice will instead do the catching for Marcus Stroman and bat seventh.
Wells went 1-for-3 with three RBI in Thursday's 6-5 extra-inning win over Seattle.
Wells was able to rack up at least three RBI for the seventh time this year, and he drove in two in the ninth inning to tie the game at 5-5. The 25-year-old lefty-hitting backstop occasionally loses playing time to Ben Rice behind the plate in New York's loaded lineup, but the former is doing his part to maintain a steady role. Wells is batting .271 with three homers, three doubles and 10 RBI over his last 48 at-bats (14 games).
Yankees' Austin Wells: Homer streak at three games
Rotowire
Wells went 1-for-3 with a walk and a two-run home run in Tuesday's 10-3 win over the Mariners.
The 25-year-old catcher took Casey Legumina deep in the sixth inning to help break the game open. Wells has gone yard in three straight games as he heats up after a 15-game homerless drought, and on the season he's slashing .221/.284/.459 with 14 homers, three steals, 29 runs and 50 RBI over 74 contests.
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Yankees' Austin Wells: Homers again in win
Rotowire
Wells went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI in Sunday's 6-4 win over the Mets.
Wells got the scoring started with a solo blast in the third inning and then drove in another run on a groundout in the fourth. The catcher has now hit safely in eight of his past 11 games, highlighted by the two home runs he hit over the weekend. For the year, he's slashing .220/.280/.448 with 13 homers, 48 RBI, 28 runs scored and three steals across 271 plate appearances.
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Yankees' Austin Wells: Goes deep Saturday
Rotowire
Wells went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in a loss to the Mets on Saturday.
Wells plated New York's second run of the game with a solo shot to right field in the third inning. The long ball snapped a 15-game homerless stretch by the backstop and increased his total to 12 home runs on the season -- tied for fourth among big-league catchers. Wells was also looked at by a trainer early in the game after taking a foul tip off his mask, but he remained in the contest and is in the lineup again Sunday, batting eighth and starting behind the plate.
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