Austin Kenneth Wells (born July 12, 1999) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

for the

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(MLB). He played

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for the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

, and the Yankees selected him in the first round of the

2020 MLB draft The 2020 Major League Baseball draft took place on June 10 and 11, 2020. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to Major League Baseball (MLB) teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2019 MLB season standings. In ad ...

. Wells made his MLB debut in 2023.

Early life

Wells grew up in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. His parents were both athletes at the

; his father, Greg, played baseball, and his mother, Michelle, of Dominican descent, was a gymnast. Wells' father grew up in Maxwell, California, a rural rice-farming community. He currently farms rice, and his parents (Wells' grandfather and grandmother), Kenny "KC" Wells and Kathy "Cuckoo" Wells, are retired rice farmers. Wells' brother Carson played baseball and his brother Mason played lacrosse.

Amateur career

Wells attended

Bishop Gorman High School Bishop Gorman High School (commonly referred to as Gorman or BGHS) is a four-year private, Roman Catholic college preparatory school located in Las Vegas, Nevada. The school is administered by the Archdiocese of Las Vegas. The school opened i ...

, and played

for the baseball team. As a junior, he was named the Nevada

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Player of the Year and a second team All-American by ''

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'' and played in the

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All-America Baseball Game after finishing the season with a .500 batting average with eight home runs and 47 runs batted in (RBIs). He committed to play

at the University of Arizona during his junior year. Wells injured the elbow of his throwing arm during his senior season, requiring surgery. He could not catch during his senior year, but played as a

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. Unlike other players in a team's lineup, they generally only play as an offensive player and usually do not play defense as ...

, limiting the interest he had drawn from

(MLB) teams. As a senior, he batted .527 with 20 doubles, six triples and four home runs while scoring 46 runs and batting in 46 runs. The

selected Wells in the 35th round of the

2018 MLB draft The 2018 Major League Baseball draft began on June 4, 2018. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was determined based on the reverse order of the 2017 MLB season final standings. In addition, compensation pi ...

, but he opted not to sign and enrolled at Arizona. As a true freshman for the

Arizona Wildcats The Arizona Wildcats are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Divis ...

, Wells batted .353 with 73 runs, 15 doubles, seven triples, five home runs, and 60 RBIs and was named the

Pac-12 Conference The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I level for all sports, and its Co ...

Freshman of the Year. Following the end of the season Wells played for the

Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox The Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox, or Y-D Red Sox, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Red Sox play th ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

and was named a league All-Star and was awarded the Robert A. McNeese Outstanding Pro Prospect Award after hitting .308 with seven home runs and 26 RBIs. ''

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'' and the ''

Collegiate Baseball Newspaper ''Collegiate Baseball Newspaper'' (also known as ''Collegiate Baseball Magazine'' and ''Collegiate Baseball'') was an American publication based in Arizona that considered itself the "voice of amateur baseball" and was published for over 40 yea ...

'' named Wells a second team preseason All-American and

National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) is an association of baseball writers, broadcasters, and publicists in the United States. It was founded in 1962. The NCBWA compiles a preseason ranking of the top 30 teams in the n ...

named him to their third team. Wells also was named to the watchlist for the

Golden Spikes Award The Golden Spikes Award is bestowed annually to the best amateur baseball player in the United States. The award, created by USA Baseball and sponsored by the Major League Baseball Players Association, was first presented in 1978. It is given to ...

going into his sophomore season. Wells batted .375 with two home runs, 14 RBIs and a 1.116 OPS in 15 games before the season was cut short due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Professional career

The

selected Wells in the first round, with the 28th overall selection, of the

. Wells signed with the Yankees on June 25 for a $2.5 million

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. The Yankees invited Wells to

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

in 2021 as a non-roster player. They assigned him to the

Low-A Single-A, formerly known as Class A and sometimes as Low-A, is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States, below Triple-A, Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams classified at the Single-A level, one for ...

Tampa Tarpons The Tampa Tarpons are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They are located in Tampa, Florida. The Tarpons play their home games at George M. Steinbrenner Field, which is a ...

to start the 2021 minor league season and promoted him to the

High-A High-A, officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing, is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A and D ...

Hudson Valley Renegades The Hudson Valley Renegades are a Minor League Baseball team based in Fishkill, New York. The High-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, the Renegades play in the South Atlantic League. The Renegades play their home games at Heritage Financial Pa ...

in late July. The Covid pandemic would not slow him down; he finished the season hitting a combined .264/.390/.476 over 103 games, hitting 16 home runs with 76 RBIs. After the season, the Yankees assigned Wells the

Surprise Saguaros The Surprise Saguaros are a baseball team that plays in the West Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games in Surprise, Arizona, at Surprise Stadium. The ballpark is also the spring training facility of the Kansas City Roya ...

in the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season baseball league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are filled ...

. Wells began the 2022 season with Hudson Valley and was promoted to the Double-A

Somerset Patriots The Somerset Patriots are an American professional Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team based in Bridgewater, New Jersey. They are the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They compete in the Eastern League (EL), known as the Double-A Nort ...

in July. He broke a rib during

, delaying the start of his 2023 season with Somerset. On July 21, the Yankees promoted Wells to the Triple-A

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, often abbreviated to SWB RailRiders, are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They are located in Moosic, Pen ...

. On September 1, 2023, the Yankees promoted Wells to the major leagues for the first time. Wells made his debut that night, recording his first MLB hit in his first

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens upon completion of his turn at bat, ...

against

Justin Verlander Justin Brooks Verlander ( ; born February 20, 1983) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros, and New York M ...

. On September 20, Wells hit his first career home run, a 416-foot solo shot to right field off of pitcher

Erik Swanson Erik Donald Swanson (born September 4, 1993) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2019 with the Seattle Mariners. Swanson is one of only two active MLB pl ...

during a game against the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

. The rookie catcher hit two back-to-back homers against Arizona and Toronto playing a key role in his team's victories. On September 25, he hit a home run in the fourth to eliminate the Diamondbacks' lead and also gave the Yankees the lead with another run in the eighth. Next day, his two-run homer clutch hit in the ninth, the third home run in five days, allowed the

Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. They are one ...

to secure a 2-0 victory over the

Rogers Centre Rogers Centre (originally SkyDome) is a retractable roof stadium in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated at the base of the CN Tower near the northern shore of Lake Ontario. Opened in 1989 on the former Railway Lands, it is home to t ...

. On March 27, 2025, Wells hit a leadoff home run, becoming the first Yankee to hit a leadoff homer on opening day and the first catcher in MLB history to do the same. On May 6, Wells hit his first career

grand slam Grand Slam or Grand slam may refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category terminology originating in contract bridge and other whist card games Athletics * Grand Slam Track, professional track and field league Auto racing * ...

in the bottom of the seventh inning against the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

References

External links

Arizona Wildcats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Austin 1999 births Living people Arizona Wildcats baseball players Baseball players from Las Vegas Bishop Gorman High School alumni Hudson Valley Renegades players Major League Baseball catchers New York Yankees players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders players Somerset Patriots players Surprise Saguaros players Tampa Tarpons players Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox players American sportspeople of Dominican Republic descent