Yankees Austin Wells drawing rave reviews for work behind plate: Just gets better

OAKLAND, Calif.— Austin Wells’ bat had cooled off some through the first three weeks of September. His work behind the plate had not. The Yankees rookie catcher drew rave reviews for his work with Gerrit Cole in Friday’s 4-2, 10-inning win over the A’s, having a hand in helping the ace cruise through a nine-inning, two-hit gem at the Coliseum. “He’s been great for us,” Cole said.

“He came in with a good foundation already, and he just gets better and better the more he plays.” Cole is one of the game’s best at reading hitters’ swings and adjusting his plan of attack from there.Veteran catcher Jose Trevino is also adept at the skill, which is part of why that battery has had so much success together. But Wells has come into his own in that regard, an important development with his bat being so important to the Yankees lineup as their regular cleanup hitter. “I think he was pretty talented at it,” Cole said.

“But look, we’re trying to turn the lineup over four times.So the communication is important.

I made an effort to up that, to make sure we’re on the same page with pitches and we got multiple opinions on what we’re seeing.Just makes it that much easier when you know the pitching coach and the catcher, everybody’s convicted we’re throwing this pitch, and that gives you the best chance to execute, whether you’re right or not.” Almost every time Friday night, they were right, as Cole allowed just two singles and a walk across an efficient 99-pitch outing, his best of the year. “I thought they were excellent,” manager Aaron Boone said, “because I think a lot of what they did, they made some good adjustments in-game, reading swings.” Boone pointed to a key at-bat in the bottom of the ninth inning, with the score tied 1-1, as an example.

Lawrence Butler took a big hack at a 1-0 fastball at the top of the zone and fouled it off, which Cole followed with a pair of changeups — he only threw five of them all n...