Biography
Austin Kenneth Wells (born July 12, 1999) is an American professional baseball catcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball for the University of Arizona, and the Yankees selected him in the first round of the 2020 MLB draft. Wells made his MLB debut in 2023.
Early life
Wells grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada. His parents were athletes at the University of Arizona; his father, Greg, played baseball, and his mother, Michelle, of Dominican descent, was a gymnast. Wells' father Greg grew up in Maxwell, CA, a rural rice farming community. Wells' father currently farms rice and his grandfather and grandmother, Kenny "KC" Wells and Kathy "Cuckoo" Wells, are retired rice farmers. His brother Carson played baseball and his brother Mason played lacrosse.
Amateur career
Wells attended Bishop Gorman High School, and played catcher for the baseball team. As a junior, he was named the Nevada Gatorade Player of the Year and a second team All-American by USA Today and played in the Under Armour 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 college baseball 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, limiting the interest he had drawn from Major League Baseball (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 New York Yankees selected Wells in the 35th round of the 2018 MLB draft, but he opted not to sign and enrolled at Arizona.
As a true freshman for the Arizona Wildcats, Wells batted .353 with 73 runs, 15 doubles, seven triples, five home runs, and 60 RBIs and was named the Pac-12 Conference Freshman of the Year. Following the end of the season Wells played for the Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox of the Cape Cod Baseball League 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.
Baseball America and the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper named Wells a second team preseason All-American and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association named him to their third team. Wells also was named to the watchlist for the Golden Spikes Award 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.
Professional career
The New York Yankees selected Wells in the first round, with the 28th overall selection, of the 2020 MLB draft. Wells signed with the Yankees on June 25 for a $2.5Â million signing bonus.
The Yankees invited Wells to spring training in 2021 as a non-roster player. They assigned him to the Low-A Tampa Tarpons to start the 2021 minor league season and promoted him to the High-A Hudson Valley Renegades 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 in the Arizona Fall League.
Wells began the 2022 season with Hudson Valley and was promoted to the Double-A Somerset Patriots in July. He broke a rib during spring training, delaying the start of his 2023 season with Somerset. On July 21, the Yankees promoted Wells to the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
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 against Justin Verlander. On September 20, Wells hit his first career home run, a 416-foot solo shot to right field off of pitcher Erik Swanson during a game against the Toronto Blue Jays. 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 to secure a 2-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.
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 in the bottom of the seventh inning against the San Diego Padres.