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Jun 18, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees catcher J.C. Escarra (25) reacts after a video review overturned a call in the fifth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
It’s roster move time, and ahead of Sunday’s series finale against the Reds, the Yankees have announced a couple of important ones with more on the way. We already covered here the movements on the pitching staff with Jake Bird going down to make room for Elmer Rodríguez, but there will be a change behind the plate as well — a timely one with recent rumors to corroborate the established expectation that the Yankees will look to the trade market to improve their catching situation.
J.C. Escarra heads back to Triple-A to make room for the impending return of Austin Wells. The Yankees’ primary backstopper, Wells was placed on the IL at the beginning of the month with what the team described as cervical headaches. While that diagnosis didn’t leave much room for speculation as to the date of his return, evidently, it didn’t turn out to be a significant issue, with him coming back to the fold in only a couple of weeks.
The decision to keep Ali Sánchez over Escarra is a rather simple one due to handedness, retaining one righty catcher instead of two left-handed hitters. On paper, Escarra might have more potential regardless of which side of the plate he hits from, but when there’s not much of a difference in terms of the quality defense that he and Sánchez provide, Escarra’s 37 OPS+ in 31 games proved to be decidedly subpar. And remember, just before Wells went on the IL, the team oh-so-briefly demoted Escarra in favor of Sánchez; Escarra only remained due to Wells’ injury.
Wells should theoretically return to get the bulk of playing time, but given his struggles this year and the fact that Sánchez has recorded at least one hit in each of his last three games, he has enough of a spark to perhaps gain some extra opportunities. It’s not as if Wells was doing much to cement his place as this team’s primary option, but the hope is that this time off allows him to regain at least some of the form that allowed him to be a stable if unspectacular option across the last two seasons. The .533 OPS Wells was running (50 OPS+) is an unsustainable figure even for the most aggressive of glove-first backstoppers.
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