Yankees to call up former Arizona catcher Austin Wells for MLB debut

Austin Wells has earned his shot.

The former Arizona Wildcats catcher is getting called up by the New York Yankees when Major League Baseball rosters expand on Friday, according to multiple reports. His first appearance in a game will be his MLB debut.

The 24-year-old Wells was taken 28^th overall by the Yankees in the 2020 MLB Draft after two seasons at the UA, though that included the COVID-halted 2020 campaign. Since beginning his pro career he has hit .261 with 53 home runs and 213 RBI in 290 games.

This season Wells is hitting .243 with 17 homers and 72 RBI in 95 games at three levels, hitting .262 with five homers and 20 RBI in 32 games since being promoted to Triple-A Scranton.

A left-handed hitter, Wells has played catcher and designated hitter in the minors after playing catcher, first base and both outfield positions at the UA, where he hit .357 in 71 college games.

The Yankees (65-68) have won three straight but are 10 games out of the last wild card spot in the American League playoff race, and recently they’ve started bringing up prospects. They promoted 22-year-old outfielder Everson Pereira earlier this month and are also reportedly calling up top overall prospect Jasson Dominguez, a 20-year-old outfielder who’s hitting .266 with 15 homers in 117 games this season at Double- and Triple-A.

When Wells makes his debut he’ll be the 94^th ex-UA player to make the majors, the second this season. Former UA catcher Cesar Salazar, a 7th-round pick of the Houston Astros in 2018, was on Houston’s Opening Day roster in March and appeared in 13 games before going back down to Triple-A.