The Yankees’ prospects of capturing Austin Wells’ September impact were almost symbolically overshadowed by Jason Dominguez’s impressive debut.
Both players wore Yankee uniforms in Houston on the same day, with Wells hitting in his first at-bat. It would have been great if Dominguez hadn’t found Crawford boxing out a career-defining home run. Later in the month, Dominguez’s stardom came and went temporarily as the Martian suffered a torn UCL not long after. Wellen? He had a month’s track to adapt and used every minute of it to attack the final third. By season’s end, Wells had a league-average offensive rating (97 OPS), hit four home runs, racked up some red numbers, and held his own defensively (although anecdotally he was listed as a shot solid). . ).
Despite the prospect’s past praise, MLB said Thursday that the proof isn’t in the pudding for Wells. MLB Pipeline, MLB’s prospecting division, released a list of the top 10 prospects for whom Wells does not fit any slot. Given the position’s notorious weaknesses and the difficulty of finding an outstanding bat behind the plate, we’d say it’s worth another look at the position.Oh, so the Dodgers have two prospects (Dalton Rushing #6, Diego Cartaya #10) and the Yankees can’t get one? What, New York doesn’t get bonus points for taking 5 catchers in the 40 (system alert: you have to figure it out)? Shame. Pipeline’s take on Wells by no means sets the pace. At the end of 2023, he was ranked #7 on the Yankees’ top 30 prospect list, which has not yet been updated for the 2024 season. In your opinion, there is no name worth more. George Lombard has barely made his debut, but the American baseball team recently praised the Yankees system, which has six players in the entire league. Top 100. Wells is not recognized as a top 100 name? Does the Pipeline version of the Top 100 have 10 catchers? It’s hard to wrestle with pipe names, but I’ll do it anyway. Mitchell was drafted 8th overall by the Royals in 2023, but he can wait. He hit .147 in his brief professional debut. Cartaya’s star has faded considerably in 2023 after previously being ranked as the Dodgers’ top prospect. He hit .189 with 19 home runs and excelled in the race as a trade chip and key player. Edgar Cuero was a key part of the Lucas Giolito trade, but hit just .255 with 6 home runs, 2 shutouts and a .731 OPS. Wells doesn’t seem to get any credit for his big performance in the minor leagues last season. In fact, he seems to have a hard time about it. Watch for innovation in 2023. Wells falls into that group, especially if Cartaya is allowed to continue its previous success.
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