Austin Wells showing signs of life after Brian Cashman calls catcher position a Yankees issue

WASHINGTON — On Thursday morning, Brian Cashman acknowledged the obvious when asked about the Yankees catcher position.Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.

“It’s an issue, clearly,” he said.Since then, Austin Wells homered in back-to-back games after having just one in his previous 38 games dating to May 1.And while that does not change the fact that the Yankees still need catching help at the deadline, the two swings sorely were needed signs of life from the backstop who has still been one of the league’s worst hitters approaching the All-Star break.“Hopefully, it’s something that he continues to build on,” manager Aaron Boone said before the Yankees’ 4-2 win over the Nationals on Saturday night in which Wells went 0-for-2 after coming into the game to replace starter Ali Sanchez.

“We need him to, and he needs to build on that, because he needs to be a factor for us offensively.”The lefty-hitting catcher crushed a home run against Rays lefty Cam Booser in Thursday’s offensive outburst and then delivered an even more important blow in the ninth inning Friday night, belting a solo shot off Nationals righty Justin Lawrence to provide breathing room after Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s go-ahead blast.They were reminders of the kind of offensive potential Wells, flashed more often over his first three years in the big leagues before it mostly disappeared this season.He entered play batting just .153 with a .504 OPS and six home runs.His batting average (now at .151) and OPS both were the lowest among 255 hitters with at least 200 plate appearances, while his WRC+ of 42 (100 being league average) was the second lowest.“On the defensive side, I think we’re thriving there,” Cashman said Thursday.

“On the offensive side, it’s been a struggle, and it’s a surprise.We feel like we have players capable of a lot more.

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