![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/strikes-seventh-inning-boston-red-129911690.jpg\")
Austin Wells reacts after striking out during the Yankees\u2019 June 5 game. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post<\/p>\nYankees catching has not been good this season, but now it is in complete flux.<\/p>\n
In less than 24 hours, the Yankees optioned J.C. Escarra to Triple-A, called up Ali S\u00e1nchez, placed Austin Wells on the injured list with \u201ccervical headaches\u201d and recalled Escarra shortly before Saturday\u2019s postponement.<\/p>\n
Aaron Boone said Wells came in late Friday night \u2014 after the Yankees had already informed Escarra they were sending him to the minors \u2014 complaining of neck discomfort that was leading to a headache. <\/p>\n
So the Yankees had him evaluated by a neurologist Saturday, and while he tested negative for a concussion, the headaches and the risk of playing with just one catcher were enough reason for the Yankees to put him on the 10-day IL.<\/p>\n
Wells, who has struggled mightily at the plate for most of the season, will undergo more neck tests Sunday to determine if he is dealing with anything more serious.<\/p>\n
Austin Wells reacts after striking out during the Yankees\u2019 June 5 game. Corey Sipkin for the NY Post<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s tough to play the game with one catcher,\u201d Boone said after Saturday\u2019s game against the Red Sox was postponed by storms. \u201cIt\u2019s not another position where \u2014 that\u2019s a tough place to be. And just with the neck, not something we want to mess around with, so feel like we kind of had to make the move.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is not clear whether a single incident is at the root of Wells\u2019 headaches and neck issues or it is just the continual wear and tear catchers endure behind the plate, though Boone said this complaint was new as of Friday night.<\/p>\n
A May 19 backswing by Blue Jays outfielder Jes\u00fas S\u00e1nchez drilled Wells in the helmet, though he stayed in the game after an on-field evaluation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s tough to say [if that led to this],\u201d Boone said. \u201cObviously catchers get hit, so it\u2019s tough to say if it\u2019s cumulative stuff. But [Friday] night, he noticed he felt like, just with the neck and headache stuff. Obviously we wanted to look into that.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Yankees](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/new-york-yankees-camilo-doval-127206723.jpg\")
J.C. Escarra (r.) is pictured during the Yankees\u2019 May 7 game. Bill Kostroun for the NY Post<\/p>\n
Boone said he expects Wells\u2019 IL stint to be short and just require rest, but Sunday\u2019s additional testing will ultimately go a long way in determining that.<\/p>\n
In the meantime, the Yankees will have to figure out how to divvy up the catching duties without Wells, who had started 45 of their 63 games, in large part because of his defense and how much the Yankees value his game calling and rapport with the pitching staff.<\/p>\n
The right-handed-hitting S\u00e1nchez \u2014 known more for his defensive reputation than his bat \u2014 had been scheduled to start Saturday\u2019s game against Red Sox lefty Ranger Su\u00e1rez. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Whenever he makes his first start, he will become the first right-handed-hitting catcher to play in a game for the Yankees since Jose Trevino in the 2024 World Series. <\/p>\n
The Yankees planned to have S\u00e1nchez spell Wells against left-handers and were going to take things day by day, which they presumably still will with Escarra now back in the fold.<\/p>\n
Entering Saturday, the lefty-hitting Wells and Escarra had combined to hit just .171 with a .527 OPS \u2014 the worst production of any position in the Yankees lineup and, by OPS and wRC+, the third-weakest catching production of any team in the major leagues.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\tYankees Merch Shop\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\tNew York Post receives revenue from affiliate and advertising partnerships for sharing this content and when you make a purchase.\t\t<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just felt like, with our catchers struggling a little bit offensively obviously, just felt like the opportunity exists for Ali to get up here and give us a different look,\u201d Boone had said earlier Saturday before Wells went on the IL.<\/p>\n
S\u00e1nchez, who played a combined 50 games for the Mets, Cardinals, Marlins, Blue Jays and Red Sox from 2020-2025, was not exactly lighting it up at Triple-A Scranton\/Wilkes-Barre, batting .227 with a .702 OPS in 40 games. <\/p>\n
He actually had worse numbers against lefty pitching, too, batting .176 with a .576 OPS in 39 plate appearances.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGo beyond the box score with the Bombers\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for Inside the Yankees by Greg Joyce, exclusively on Sports+.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
The potential wild card for boosting the Yankees\u2019 offensive production at catcher \u2014 at least before they pursue help at the trade deadline \u2014 would be moving Ben Rice back to his natural position, as they did for a stretch last summer.<\/p>\n
But they have shown little inclination to do so this season, not wanting to mess with Rice\u2019s emergence as one of the best hitters in the game while playing first base.<\/p>\n
Boone echoed general manager Brian Cashman\u2019s comments Friday by saying that throwing Rice behind the plate was not currently in their plans.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoesn\u2019t mean we won\u2019t do it, doesn\u2019t mean we won\u2019t get to that point,\u201d Boone said, \u201cbut it\u2019s not on the board right now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yankees catching has not been good this season, but now it is in complete flux. In less than…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":719542,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2376],"tags":[1217,5,1121,4,1690,62,2548,2547,185,142],"class_list":["post-719541","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-yankees","tag-austin-wells","tag-baseball","tag-j-c-escarra","tag-mlb","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-yankees","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkyankees","tag-sports","tag-yankees"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116707692652299696","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719541","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=719541"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/719541\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/719542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=719541"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=719541"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=719541"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}