Arizona's Austin Wells Playing Major Role in New York

Former Arizona catcher Austin Wells has become a critical piece to the Yankees and their postseason hopes.

Jun 11, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; New York Yankees second base DJ LeMahieu (26) and New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells (28) celebrate after scoring during the second inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-Imagn Images | William Purnell-Imagn Images

In the history of the program, Arizona has had over 300 players drafted in the MLB Draft and have had a player selected in the draft 13 consecutive years dating back to the 2011 draft.

Throughout its storied history, Arizona has seen 21 first round MLB Draft picks with the most recent coming during the 2024 draft when outfielder Chase Davis went No. 21 overall to St. Louis.

One of the former first round draft picks is New York catcher Austin Wells, who was the No. 28 overall pick to the Yankees.

During his time with the Wildcats, Wells played two seasons in 21 games where he hit .357 in 277 total at-bats. While at the plate, he slugged .560, which led to seven triples, 21 doubles and seven home runs to go along with his 74 RBI at Arizona.

While in Tucson, Wells played for then-coach Jay Johnson and helped the team go a combined 42-29 with the 2020 season getting cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Arizona didn’t make the postseason when he was on campus and much of that had to deal with the pandemic in his final season.

Since then, Wells has played one full season at the Major League level last year during the Yankees run to the World Series.

It was a breakout season for Wells, hitting 13 home runs and driving in 55 RBI while batting .229 in 115 games.

In the postseason, Wells got experience by playing in 14 games and racking up 50 at-bats where he hit .120 but slugged two home runs and four RBI. The home runs came in the ACLS and the World Series against the Guardians and Dodgers on the game’s biggest stages.

No Wells is back at it again and has been a steady force from behind the plate for the Yankees. This season, he is batting .221 while starting in 70 games. He has set a career-high of 14 home runs and has driven in 50 RBI.

This season, Wells has started in 65 games and has caught 59 behind the plate and has only recorded one error, thus far. Right now, he is throwing out 25% of base runners trying to steal a bag on his arm.

There is a lot of season left and the Yankees are 50-41, sitting 3 ½ back out of first place behind Toronto.

Wells still needs to develop and is doing so. But, he is right now a key player for one of the best franchises in sports helping them try to make the MLB postseason.

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