The Yankees Need to Fix Their Catcher Situation

The New York Yankees are 3.5 games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East standings with the All-Star break on the horizon. They have the most wins in the American League and have found offensive contributions from across their lineup to support their strong starting pitching.

With Aaron Judge expected to be out until August with a cracked rib, they need to keep up their offensive parity in order to stay in contention while Judge rehabs.

Yankees fans have grown accustomed the last few years to the team’s hitting starting a skid in the June-July section of the season, which many fans call the “June swoon.”

Paul Goldschmidt, Ben Rice, and Cody Bellinger have been huge for the team since Judge went on the IL.

Since Judge’s absence, Goldschmidt is batting .382 with a .691 slugging percentage and a 1.087 OPS. During this stretch, many other hitters in the lineup have picked up the slack. Goldschmidt and Rice also had two clutch homers this past weekend in Toronto.

And after slumping for most of the season, Jazz Chisholm Jr. has performed well in clutch situations, especially in a recent series in Cleveland, where Chisholm had a game-breaking home run in the eighth inning on June 9 followed by a clutch triple in a win against the Guardians on June 10.

Although this success is promising, one position that keeps nagging the team is catcher.

Austin Wells has gotten the majority of the time starting but has an abysmal .166 batting average and is striking out more than 26% of the time.

Wells also went to the IL with cervical headaches on June 6 and has no timetable for his return. The team has had to start the usual backup, J.C. Escarra, and recently promoted Ali Sanchez from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Escarra also has a minimal .195 average in 29 games and has only a .536 OPS on the year.

If there is no drastic improvement at this position at the plate, it should be one of the team’s to priorities at the trade deadline, where a blockbuster trade could enhance the team’s offense.

Stats were taken prior to play on June 18.

The Current Backstop Situation

In 26 games this season, Wells is batting just .166 with just five extra-base hits. Despite having 23 walks, his on-base percentage is still under .300. This is not to say that Wells is not performing well behind the plate. He is one of the top-rated pitch framers, and which has greatly aided the team’s pitching staff.

Wells has had the starting catching job since the start of the 2024 season, and although he was never one of the main pieces in a star-studded lineup, he still contributed.

Wells had 169 hits over the 2024 and 2025 seasons and hit 21 home runs last season, slugging .436. He also posted 6.6 fWAR between the two campaigns. He came in third in AL Rookie of the Year voting in the Yankees’ AL Pennant-winning season in 2024.

Strikeouts have become an issue over the past two seasons, however. After striking out 21% of the time in 2024, that number rose to 26.3% last season and currently sits at a career-high mark of 26.6% in 2026.

These struggles have been put into the spotlight this season as the team has had more parity across the lineup. Over periods of time, the team has received contributions from not only their top stars, but from guys like Jose Caballero, Amed Rosario, and Ryan McMahon.

While each player has had their ups and downs at the plate, every slump has been replaced by a hot streak from another man.

But Wells has been one of the only Yankees unable to get it going, and Escarra just hasn’t shown enough to be the starting catcher on a contending team.

Escarra’s fifth-inning double on Friday was the first hit by a Yankees catcher since May 30, and Ali Sanchez’s RBI on Sunday was the first by a Yankees catcher since May 26.

With Wells’ timeline to return up in the air and both Escarra and Sanchez failing to fill in at an adequate level, the Yankees’ front office may have to look outside the organization to remedy their backstop problems.

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Backstops To Target

There are several catchers the Yankees can target at the trade deadline to fix their woes at the position, but the best option could be fourth-year Colorado Rockies backstop Hunter Goodman.

Goodman has been on a tear as of late. He is second in the National League with 21 home runs, and his .536 slugging percentage is eighth in the NL. His barrel rate, exit velocity, hard-hit rate and bat speed are all within the 80th percentile and his batting run value is in the 86th percentile.

Although he is not as skilled defensively behind the plate and struggles to throw out runners, his presence would be felt immediately offensively. Though strikeouts are a big part of his game, his influx of power makes up for it and could alter the Yankees’ lineup.

The Rockies currently hold the worst record in MLB, but Goodman does have three years left on his contract, so the the return would likely be quite steep. That said, if the Yankees really want to make a push for a title, he could be the bat that takes them over the hump.

Another catcher that the Yankees could target would be Ryan Jeffers of the Minnesota Twins. Jeffers, who suffered a hamate bone fracture in his left wrist last month and is currently on the IL, was one of the top hitting catchers in baseball before going down with injury.

While hamate injuries can be tricky for hitters, Jeffers is progressing well and should make a return before the trade deadline. Should be bounce back to form upon his return, he would be an ideal target for New York.

Jeffers has had a pretty solid season, driving in 26 RBI for the Twins and having an on-base percentage of .408, a slugging percentage of .541 and an OPS of .949. He has a .411 wOBA, which has steadily increased through his seven years in Minnesota. He is also a solid pitch framer.

Although his numbers do not pop out at you as much as Goodman’s do, he could be a good backup option if the price for Goodman is deemed too high. He is a good candidate if the Yankees decide they don’t want to outright replace Wells behind the plate. He could platoon with Wells, which would still allow Wells to get starts and potentially turn his season around.

Jeffers is in the last year of his contract, so the Twins may look to move him. Minnesota is currently 4.5 games back in the division and 1.5 games out of a wild-card spot. They may become more hesitant to sell if they stay in contention, but there’s a path where they could become sellers very quickly.

I think Goodman would be the better option for an immediate impact behind the plate. Wells still deserves a spot on the team as the most experienced catcher, but the lack of production from him demands a fix.

An Unexpected Solution

Another potential solution to their catcher issues would be to move Ben Rice, who is well on his way to an All-Star appearance, to the position. Now, this is not a decision that I would support, nor do I think the team will go down this route, but it has been discussed.

Rice is in the middle of a breakout year, leading the team in home runs and having slash line stats that are all top-10 in the AL. He caught in college at Dartmouth and started 26 games last year behind the dish. Rice has split time this year at first base and designated hitter.

Manager Aaron Boone said that it is “absolutely” tempting to switch Rice to catcher, but the increased chance of injury to Rice will likely cause the team to look elsewhere or fix the problem internally.

Whatever route the team decides to go down, having a catcher who can contribute offensively would make this lineup one of the most well-rounded in the league and would fill a significant hole.