When the Yankees selected Austin Wells with the 28th overall pick in the 2020 draft, they envisioned a bat-first prospect. There was an acceptance that he very likely would end up at first base or DH, but that he would hit his way into the middle of the lineup.
But his drafting coincided with the Yankees’ hiring of Tanner Swanson and Aaron Gershenfeld, who helped turn the organization into a catching factory, notably with training methods that improved framing.
Over the past two years combined, five of the top 17 best framers, according to Baseball Savant, went through the Yankees factory: Wells, Carlos Narváez, Luis Torrens, Jose Trevino and Kyle Higashioka. The work allowed the Yankees to use a variety of catchers and catching prospects to make trades over the past four years.
To his credit, Wells took to the training, and also seemed to learn a lot about game-calling, notably from being partnered for a while with Trevino. The guy drafted for his bat has turned into a mitt-first player — and a good one in that area.
