The Tuesday Discussion: Catching Troubles?

May 12, 2026

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This week we posed the following to our writers:

Austin Wells and J.C Escarra are both hitting under. 200.  Neither has ever hit consistently in the big leagues.  Is this a concern?  If so, what can the Yankees do to address this concern?

Here are their responses...

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Derek McAdam - It is definitely a concern that Wells is not hitting, although I’m not as concerned about Escarra. As long as he provides good defense behind the plate a couple times a week, I’ll take that.

I think the bigger issue is that both of these catchers are left-handed hitters. There really is no strategy in who will catch certain days based on the opposing pitcher, which is an unfortunate situation for the Yankees and one that I think should be fixed. 

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Paul Semendinger - The both seem to be good defenders, but the Yankees need at least some offense from the catching position. This is one area where we knew the issue existed long before the season started - and yet the Yankees did nothing to address this all winter.

They are going to have to make a trade and give up some young talent.

The one thing I would absolutely not do is move Ben Rice to catcher. They should leave well enough alone there.

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Ed Botti - I'm much more concerned with Wells than I am with Escarra, and have been since 2024. Wells is the starter, and gets 75% or more of the catcher at bats. Beginning last year, 2 lefty catchers is odd, as AROD and others correctly stated in the playoffs last year. But, they stayed the course for some reason. Solution wise? The pitcher catcher relationship is  unique to other relationships on the field,  and it makes it difficult to change in season. The trust level required takes time to develop. You dont see a completely new battery develop in season very often, so getting a new #1 now,  is unlikely.  For that reason, id say a righty back up is probably the answer, unfortunately for Escarra, who does a good job as backup. 

All Wells needs to do is stop trying to be Gary Carter or Thurman Munson,  because he never will be, and shorten his swing and simply hit the ball. His inability or refusal to do so, hurts this team. The middle of the infield was and still is a problem. 

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Cary Greene - In short, I think the Yankees should be patient with Austin Wells and stick with him as their starting catcher. I have some in-depth analysis of this situation which will appear in a separate article. J.C. Escarra seems redundant though, he's a valuable, good defensive catcher and if Wells were to go down with an injury, the Yankees are probably thinking Escarra could handle a starting role. Escarra is too valuable to dump for less than a quality return, but he has options and for the life of me, I'm not sure why the Yankees have him on the active roster opposed to a right-handed batting platoon option. I also have an idea of an under the radar trade candidate that might be a better fit than Escarra is on this roster. 

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Tim Kabel - The lack of offensive production from the catcher position is a problem for the Yankees. Neither Austin Wells nor JC Escarra are hitting very much. They haven’t hit very much in their careers. That seems unlikely to change. However, because they both play excellent defense. It is something that could potentially be overlooked. What makes it a larger problem is the fact that other players on the Yankees, such as Trent Grisham, Jazz Chisholm, Jr., and Ryan McMahon are not having very good offensive years either.

That magnifies the offensive ineptitude of the catchers. There really isn’t anything the Yankees can do at this point because they don’t have anyone in the minor leagues who could come up and fill in. Also, I’m not sure if there are any catchers who are better than what they have available on the trade market. I think the Yankees just need to ride it out at this point and hope that not only Wells and Escarra improve, but also the other struggling players in the offense.

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Mike Whiteman - I think the Yanks can make a deal to improve the position offensively. 

Two lefthanded glove-first catchers sure seems redundant to me. I think adding a righthanded swinger with a little pop would be of benefit - say a Kyle Higashioka type.