Coming into the season, Austin Wells had a .224 career batting average and a .717 OPS. He had never been an elite producer at the plate, but posted 20 homers last season and was good enough for the Yankees to stick with him.
However, he was having an awful season through June. In his first 56 games, he had a .155/.255/.238 slash line and just four home runs. The Yankees reportedly tried trading for a catcher, but were unable to land one. Wells has lost at-bats and starts to Ali Sánchez lately, but he has turned his awful season around.
Since July 1, Wells is slashing .238/.314/.426. He has a .740 OPS and six home runs. He is never going to be a guy who hits for a high average, but his .740 OPS is a big boost for the Yankees. He is producing for an offense that is without Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, and his contributions are not going unnoticed. On Wednesday night, he gave the Yankees the lead in extra innings with a two-out, two-RBI single.
"You feel like he's that threat again down there. That's massive," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, per The Athletic's Chris Kirschner.
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