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AIPROPX ReportYahoo Sports · 1h ago
Yes, the Yankees catchers do some things well
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 19: Director of catching, Tanner Swanson and Austin Wells #28 of the New York Yankees stand for the national anthem before the game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium on May 19, 2026 in New York, New York. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The biggest weakness with the 2026 Yankees is the catching position; that much is painfully obvious. Even after a recent uptick in production from the platoon and Ali Sánchez’s heroics on Monday night , Yankees’ catchers entered Tuesday’s game with a putrid 58 wRC+ and 0.8 fWAR at the position, ranking 28th and 24th in all of baseball, respectively.
It’s a non-negotiable at the upcoming trade deadline to get another bat, and even if it seems like the Hunter Goodmans and the ( now-injured ) Shea Langeliers of the world are highly improbable, the general consensus among baseball analysts is that the Yankees will acquire a catcher of some sort to try and resuscitate a highly unproductive room. Such a trade could happen by the time this is published!
But as we wait for that hopeful addition to don the pinstripes, there’s something that needs to be said about the current room that gets lost in the offensive black hole. Despite the clear need for an offensive upgrade, there is still value in the incumbent catcher’s defensive abilities. The one position on the diamond where subpar offense has always been tolerated is catcher, so the Yankees being tied for third in Fielding Run Value at least gives them a higher floor with how awful the production has been offensively.
All three of their catchers are good framers. Austin Wells has always been highly regarded for his defense, and it tracks with +4 Framing Runs and +3 FRV, both well-above-average numbers. While his hitting regression has been mind-boggling to say the least, he remains a 90th-percentile framer, something that is still valuable even with ABS. He is the league’s best framer on pitches below the zone, generating +6 Framing Runs and stealing a bevy of strikes on offspeed and breaking balls.
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J.C. Escarra and Sánchez have both been productive as well in their backup roles, but it’s been especially surprising to see Sánchez produce +4 Framing Runs of his own, even being a more valuable framer in much less playing time than Wells, according to FanGraphs. Sánchez has more than doubled his career FRV in one-third of his career playing time.
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And while ABS has slightly reduced the value of framing because of the ability to overturn pitches, two of the three Yankees’ catchers are above average in ABS. Of the 64 catchers who have made at least 20 challenges, Wells and Escarra are tied for 23rd at 63%. In terms of net overturns over expected, Wells is 14th at +8.0.
Even as it’s gained much more importance in recent years, framing is just one small part of catcher defense. All three Yankees’ catchers have been elite blockers, posting a +9 Blocking Above Average as a team, fourth in baseball. On a team that has two of the best splitters in baseball as high-leverage arms, this is extremely important to prevent passed balls and wild pitches. Only two teams have fewer PB+WP than the Yankees’ 26, despite their estimated count being a lot higher.
This is the specialty of Escarra, who’s managed to be +4 in just 216 innings. On a rate basis, only Cal Raleigh, Alejandro Kirk, and Sebastian Rivero of the Angels have been better. When he was in the bigs, he frequently smothered buried pitches in front of the plate as few have.
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While all this blocking and framing is supported by in-depth Baseball Savant statistics, there are two aspects on the defensive end that the catching trio has also thrived at that don’t require going beyond basic box scores. Just look at controlling the run game, where even though the Yankees have a mediocre rate of 22 percent of catching base stealers, they’ve surrendered just 54 stolen bases, tied for the third-fewest in baseball.
Stolen bases are not necessarily on the catcher, nor are they exclusively on the pitcher, but baserunners will be more ambitious if you are not a threat to throw them out, even if there isn’t a Marcus Stroman-Jose Trevino duo that’s practically begging you to do so. It’s an organizational thing, and you bet that the coaching staff has drilled into these pitchers and catchers to respect the run game. The Yankees are fourth in MLB in pickoffs with 12 and have been one of the best teams in preventing stolen bases since 2025.
At the end of the day, though, the most important job of a catcher is calling a game and their chemistry with the pitchers. As much as their offense has struggled, they’ve been the heart of one of the league’s best pitching staffs and it can’t be too casually dismissed that Yankees pitchers throughout the staff rave about Wells’ game-calling ability. The risk of adding a catcher in-season is the lack of a runway for said catcher to develop that chemistry with all 13 pitchers he’ll need to work with on a deep playoff run.
For all that he’s struggled with his bat, having Wells as your backup, with Sánchez and Escarra waiting in the wings, would be a big plus for this team.
YesYankeesDirectorTanner SwansonAustin WellsNew York YankeesToronto Blue JaysYankee StadiumNew YorkPhotoGetty ImagesEven
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