“Awful,” one National League scout assigned to the Yankees' system said recently of his impressions of Wells defensively when he first saw him with Low-A Tampa in 2021. “I mean, really bad.” “Couldn’t throw,” said another NL scout who covers the Yankees’ minor leagues.

Wells became the first catcher to hit leadoff for the Yankees, who were established in 1913. And he led off the opener with a home run.

In an electrifying start to the Major League Baseball season, New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells made headlines by hitting a historical leadoff home run on Opening Day. As the first Yankees catcher to accomplish this feat and the first in league history to do so on Opening Day,