Austin Wells faced and met, head on, the challenge of preparing and executing a game plan for three starting pitchers in his first three games as a big-league catcher.
And then there were less scripted moments, like the ninth inning of Saturday’s game in which the Yankees were clinging on to a 5-4 lead when Clay Holmes entered from the bullpen.
In many ways, though, Wells had been preparing to catch Holmes’ sinker — and other pitches specific to the Yankees’ staff — even before this weekend, despite not being in the same area code as them. “[Wells] was really adamant or asking about things that he could do to prepare better for this moment, whenever it was here,” Swanson said. “It’s never the exact same, but I think it certainly closed the gap where the adjustment period was — when he caught his very first sinker [from Holmes], he’s like, ‘Oh, OK, this isn’t completely foreign to me. I’ve seen this before.’ ”The way Wells caught Holmes’ unpredictable sinkers impressed more than just Swanson.
“It gives me all the confidence in the world to have the guys on the mound be able to trust me right off the bat,” said Wells, who also threw out the only runner who tried to steal on him all weekend on Sunday night.
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