Austin Wells Moved To Cleanup Spot For Game Two Against The Rays

The Yankees have been struggling to find a groove outside of a couple guys in their offense this season. With how good he’s been swinging the bat lately, manager Aaron Boone decided to move catcher Austin Wells into the fourth hole cleanup spot for today’s game against the Rays. While Wells struggled to start off the season at the plate, since the injury to Jose Trevino he’s stepped up, and has been much better. Yankees fans have raved about this decision, as they hope it can maybe generate more runs, and spark the rest of the offense.

Wells this season has hit for a slashline of .216/.320/.377 with an OPS+ of 96. That slashline over the last 14 games however has been much better, and very productive at .257/.395/.629 with an OPS of 1.024. Wells has also slugged four home runs in that 14 game period, and is fifth in fWAR among catchers since April 24th. 

The Yankees could use a spark offensively despite putting up six runs in last night’s win over the Rays to start off the second half of the season. Aaron Judge and Juan Soto had an incredible night at the plate last night, combining for six hits, four runs scored, two walks, and one RBI. Anthony Volpe recorded a pair of hits as well, and collected three RBI’s. Wells to the cleanup spot should hopefully keep this spark, and move it into the rest of the order.

Nestor Cortes will get the start for the Yankees in this Saturday matinee. At Yankee Stadium, Cortes’ stats have been very good. The left hander has recorded a 1.81 ERA with 65 strikeouts at home. His over/under for strikeouts today is set at 5.5 (FanDuel). 

The Yankees look to win today to at the very least split a four game set with Tampa Bay to open up this second half. The Yankees will then host the New York Mets for the remaining half of the 2024 Subway Series, before heading to Boston and Philadelphia.