When the Yankees reported to spring training in mid-February, Aaron Boone gave an honest answer when asked who his leadoff hitter would be.
“I don’t know,” the manager replied. Boone added that he could see six or seven names in the role, though it was hard to come up with that many logical candidates after Gleyber Torres vacated the job and signed with the Tigers.
Jazz Chisholm Jr., Jasson Domínguez and Anthony Volpe all made for reasonable, if imperfect, options, and Cody Bellinger’s name came up a few days later. Still, the Yankees were a couple choices short of Boone’s headcount.
Now weeks removed, an unconventional applicant looks like a natural in the role.
That would be Austin Wells, who has batted first in his last seven starts entering Wednesday. The left-handed swinger, who has started eight total games this spring, is hitting .364 with three homers, six RBI and a 1.209 OPS. All three of his dingers, including the one he launched on Monday, have led off the game.
A catcher, Wells doesn’t have the build or legs of a prototypical leadoff hitter. But he gets on base, which Boone recently called his “No. 1 criteria for the leadoff spot,” per MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch.
While Chisholm and Volpe have the speed traditionally associated with the leadoff spot, getting on base hasn’t been their calling card. Chisholm has done so at a .311 career clip, while Volpe hasn’t even cracked .300 in his first two professional seasons.
Wells, who spent most of last season batting cleanup, recorded a .322 on-base percentage as a rookie in 2024. He also hit .229 — not the average one wants in the leadoff spot — with 13 homers and 55 RBI.
The Yankees also may not want their leadoff man to steal as much with Aaron Judge likely hitting in the two-hole. That wouldn’t be much of a concern with Wells starting things off, while hitting lower in the lineup would let Chisholm, Volpe and Domínguez maximize their speed without worrying about running into outs with the reigning MVP at the plate.
So far, Boone has talked about Wells batting first as if it’s an experiment, not something he’s committed to just yet. That said, the 25-year-old is getting plenty of runway leading off — and he’s looked good doing it.
Volpe led off the most for the Yankees last year (76 starts), but it was Torres (56 starts) who brought stability to the role in the second half following an early-season slump. Alex Verdugo, who remains a free agent, hit first 17 times.
If Wells were to lead off during the regular season, it would be a franchise first. No catcher in Yankees history has ever started a game at the top of the lineup, meaning Wells is positioned to do something the likes of Jorge Posada, Yogi Berra, Thurman Munson, Bill Dickey and Elston Howard never attempted.
While no Yankees’ receivers have led off, there have been catchers known to do it. Longtime Pirates backstop Jason Kendall did it the most — 463 times — while Yankees bench coach Brad Ausmus tried a handful of times during his 18-year career.
More recent examples include Mitch Garver, John Jaso, J.T Realmuto and Russell Martin.