All is well for Austin Wells at the plate right now.
The Yankees catcher achieved a pair of personal bests with his two-run home run in the sixth inning of Tuesday night’s 10-3 win over the Seattle Mariners in the Bronx.
The home run was Wells’ 14th of the season, setting a new career high, and marked the first time he has homered in three consecutive games.
Tuesday night’s no-doubter against Mariners reliever Casey Legumina had an exit velocity of 107.2 mph and traveled 414 feet into the right-field bleachers.
“This is what he’s capable of,” manager Aaron Boone said.
Wells’ 14th home run came in his 274th plate appearance, significantly exceeding last year’s pace, when he hit 13 homers in 414 plate appearances as a rookie.
“I definitely don’t try to do that,” Wells said. “I try to be in the gaps and get some hits and get on base a little bit more often, but that’s nice when they do come.”
Wells, 25, finished Tuesday with 50 RBI, which ranked fourth among MLB catchers and were only two behind second place. The leader at the position, Seattle’s Cal Raleigh, also homered in Tuesday’s game, giving him 36 home runs and 76 RBI in what has been a historic first half.
Wells is on pace for 25 home runs and 89 RBI.
The recent power surge follows a 15-game stretch from June 11 to July 3 in which Wells went 8-for-48 (.167) without a home run. Wells missed three consecutive games during that timeline due to a circulatory issue in his left index finger.
“Just getting some good pitches to hit, giving myself a little bit more time to see the ball,” Wells said.
By the end of June, Wells’ average had dropped to .214, while his OPS was down to .699. But over the four games that followed, Wells’ average rose to .221 while his OPS jumped to .743.
“When he gets it going at the plate, to have a catcher be able to swing the bat like he’s capable of, with the power, I just feel like he’s been getting good pitches to hit,” Boone said.
“That’s what it starts with. Maybe his move, his load, is a little bit better, getting him into stronger positions, but he’s hit four or five balls now on the screws the last couple of times out, which is encouraging to see.”
Each of Wells’ three homers to begin July had an exit velocity exceeding 102 mph and traveled at least 372 feet.
The lefty-swinging Wells’ average exit velocity of 91.0 mph and hard-hit rate of 49.2% are both above average among MLB hitters and are markedly up from last season.
“He stays behind the ball, gets good lift,” said Giancarlo Stanton, who said Wells can make things seem “easy” in the batter’s box.
“You saw how far that ball went tonight,” added Stanton, MLB’s active home run leader. “When he’s clicking, it’s fun to watch.”
