Yankees’ Ben Rice news could be writing on the wall for Austin Wells

Jon Conahan

•
Yankees’ Ben Rice news could be writing on the wall for Austin Wells image

Many New York Yankees fans have been frustrated with Anthony Volpe, but catcher Austin Wells might be just as disappointing, if not more so. 

Wells is a solid player who has shown flashes, but he’s also had some rough stretches. To assume he should be guaranteed the starting catcher job moving forward may be unfair.

The Yankees’ best path to change at the position would be either acquiring a full-time catcher or continuing to develop Ben Rice as an option. 

With Rice potentially playing first base full-time, some have wondered whether he’ll still get opportunities behind the plate during spring training. According to Bryan Hock of MLB.com, the Yankees still view Rice as a catcher, which could eventually have implications for Wells.

“I do think Rice can improve -- you can teach glovework and positioning at first base, what you can't teach as easily is impacting the ball as hard and as consistently as he does. I asked Aaron Boone during the Winter Meetings if Rice would benefit from just focusing completely on first base all spring. He said they want to keep catching in the toolkit because it's valuable and they do think he's capable back there, either as a backup or third catcher.

“Fair, but if there's no Paul Goldschmidt type on the roster and he's going to be playing against lefties and righties, I'd expect Rice gets a lot of early work at first base. If that comes at the price of not catching a few bullpen sessions, so be it,” he wrote.

If Rice shows real defensive improvement at catcher, the Yankees may not have much reason to keep Wells long term. 

Not only would they have a potential answer behind the plate, but it’s far easier to find impact bats at first base than it is at catcher. If everything breaks right, the Yankees could address multiple needs at once, which is always the ideal outcome.

More Yankees news:

Senior Editor