If you polled 1,000 anonymous Yankees fans at random and asked them the biggest issue with the team in 2026, generalizing it that you could name a player, team figure, or even approach, you’d get a lot of answers.

There’d be a fair amount of Aaron Boone, Brian Cashman, Hal Steinbrenner, and “analytics” answers, but you’d also think that certain positional groups or players would be named as well. The most common player that would probably be individually named would be Austin Wells, who is having an unmitigated disaster of an season to the point where one of my fellow writers mused about the worst position players on a World Series-winning Yankees team.

Indeed, Wells is quickly approaching Yankees infamy. Entering Friday night’s series opener against Atlanta, the 27-year-old backstop has a 59 wRC+, tied for the lowest by a Yankee with at least 250 plate appearances since Austin Romine in 2017 and the third-worst by any Yankee since the last World Series title in 2009. It wasn’t too long ago that it was even worse, as the 33 wRC+ he had through early July would’ve been the worst by any Yankee with 200 PAs since Jim Mason in 1976.

As such, with his struggles encompassing nearly the entire season, it seemed inevitable that some right-handed catcher would come in to take a share of the reps behind the plate at the trade deadline. Names such as Ryan Jeffers, Adley Rutschman, Hunter Goodman, and Tyler Stephenson were all floated, but when the dust settled, the Yankees elected to ignore the catcher position in an absolute stunner.

As if the pressure wasn’t already immense on Wells to produce, the lack of reinforcement has only heightened it. In a lineup that still cannot find a way to get going even after the acquisitions of Luis García Jr. and Heliot Ramos, the scrutiny will only get louder on the parts that fail to get going.

But maybe that pressure can be a good thing for Wells. After all, his best three weeks of the entire season preceded the deadline when everyone and their mother thought he would lose the starting spot he seized from Jose Trevino for good in the summer of 2024. Since July 9th in a span of 19 games and 51 plate appearances, he’s slashing .256/.373/.558 with a 161 wRC+, the best on the team. While this sample represents just one-fifth of his season, the overnight switch flipped in Boston shows that things like these might not just be small sample nonsense.

I can break up Wells’ seasons into three parts:

Part I: Process/plate discipline improved from ‘25, results lagged behind
Part II: Six weeks surrounding the cervical headaches that put him on the injured list, where he looks utterly lost
Part III: The revival over the last four weeks; process meets results.

Mr. Wells, who art thou?

Part I

Date: March 25 to May 7
Stats: .195/.336/.310, 87 wRC+, 17.8 BB%, 19.6 K% (107 PA)

The biggest reason why Wells regressed at the plate in 2025 from his strong rookie season was the sharp drop in his plate discipline. His chase, whiff, walk, and strikeout rates all plummeted from average to poor to flat-out bad. To me, improving that aspect of his game was the biggest priority for him in 2026.

And for a while, it worked. Wells was drawing walks, laying off bad pitches, and doing what you want from a guy like him. His quality of contact took a step back as he struggled to put it all together, but the process was where you wanted it to be for a guy with the thump he’s been proven to have:

This version of Wells was getting many hits fall in through May 7 and had an underwhelming slash line, but he had 19 walks to 21 strikeouts in 107 plate appearances. It was the kind of profile you could live with, even if it was disappointing for a guy who was supposed to be a good offensive catcher. But after that day, things went downhill.

Part II

Date: May 8 to July 8
Stats: .105/.141/.147, -24 wRC+, 4.0% BB, 37.0 K% (100 PA)

For two whole months, this looked like a guy who had been picked up from a local beer league and asked to hit in a major league game. He started chasing everything, doing significantly less damage in-zone, and was perhaps the easiest out in the majors. This was where his playing time began to be reduced and where things really started to get bad:

The key with this stretch was Wells going down with cervical headaches on June 6, just as the team aggressively looked to energize the unit with the promotion of Ali Sanchez. We know that said headaches were an issue for up to a week beforehand and that, as the team’s starting catcher, he has endured a beating this season behind the plate. When he came back, things didn’t get better at all in the short term.

It’s hard to blame all of this on the headaches, but when a player has six absolutely horrendous weeks of baseball centered around a neurological issue, you have to take it all with a grain of salt. Think back to the two months of sharp regression we saw out of Anthony Rizzo after his collision with Fernando Tatis Jr. in 2023 before we learned of his brain fog. While Rizzo never functionally recovered, we can see that Wells has.

Here’s a note that defines this stretch. In his first 104 plate appearances of the season, Wells drew 19 walks. He drew just four in these 100 PA’s, with all of them occurring in the first few weeks. He went 50 plate appearances between walks from May 31 to July 9, when a rebirth of sorts occurred.

Part III

Date: July 9 to present
Stats: .256/.373/.558, 161 wRC+, 13.7 BB%, 19.6 K% (51 PA)

The renaissance of Wells’ bat over the past four weeks has been predicated on, well, everything getting way better. His plate discipline has completely recovered and even reached another level. He’s no longer giving away at-bats with lousy strikeouts. He’s seeing pitches, hunting mistakes, and doing damage again. The peripherals back up the numbers.

Is this sustainable? Probably not, based on his true talent level, but the production gives you hope that he can be productive for the remainder of the season. Think of the current lineup and the hypothetical lineup when Judge, Bellinger, and Stanton return. It should be a lot deeper than it currently is, and imagine much the complexion of the bottom of the order changes if you have a Wells that hold his own at the plate.

Ryan McMahon is who he is at third base. George Lombard Jr. has boundless potential but is a rookie at shortstop. Wells, to this point, has been a black hole. For a lineup that will rely on its heavy hitters, they just need the guys at the bottom to not sink the ship, and Wells can go a long way towards achieving that standard. He’s been given all the trust in the world by management, and now he’s got all the pressure in the world on him. Wells must produce down the stretch, because the Yankees have given themselves no other options.

Yesterday we got some more bad news on the injury front. Big trade acquisition Connelly Early was shut down from his rehab after feeling forearm tightness. The team insists it is minor and that they are not concerned. However, that is certainly not the update you want to hear.

Despite the messaging about the team not being concerned, I am certainly worried. For a guy who was out with an elbow injury, experiencing forearm tightness on rehab is the last thing you want to hear. Fans have heard this update plenty of times before only to be told that the pitcher needs Tommy John Surgery a couple weeks later.

The new front office better hope that Early does not need any elbow surgery because if he does, it would be a really bad look. From the outside, it would sure seem like Paul Toboni got played by his former boss Craig Breslow if that is the outcome here. However, we are not there yet.

One other thing that raised my eyebrows was the fact that it was reported that Early is not getting an MRI. In Spencer Nusbaum’s piece, it was stated that Early “did not need an MRI”. I feel like it would be good practice to just get one anyways just to make sure everything is fine. What is the downside of doing that?

The worst thing that could happen is that Early doesn’t get an MRI, starts throwing before getting shut down again, only to find out he does in fact need surgery. If the Nats really want to proceed with extreme caution, an MRI needs to be part of the process.

It was reported that Early got an MRI after his initial injury in Boston, and there was no structural damage. However, after another arm related issue, they should check again. I am trying not to jump to conclusions here, but this just reads like the type of update you get before someone goes under the knife.

Even if Early is healthy and this is just a minor setback, he would be racing against time to get back on the mound. Presumably, he will not throw for at least a week or two and after that he will have to build back up. Once he gets through his rehab process, he will only be able to make a couple starts before the season is over.

It was true when the trade was made and even more true now, but Paul Toboni has a lot riding on Connelly Early. He started the deconstruction of an elite offense to go get his guy from Boston despite the fact Early was on the shelf. Toboni needs Early to work out, or else the fanbase will start getting grumpy.

There is still plenty of time before we can fully announce the winner of the Bennett for Perales swap, but so far Boston has the upper hand. If another trade with his old club gets off to a bad start, that would be tough optics. Toboni is pretty lucky that Mead is on the shelf and not mashing right now.

Toboni has done a phenomenal job this year developing hitters in the majors and minors. However, his trades with the Red Sox are off to a less than ideal start. For the sake of everyone involved with the team from the front office to the fans, Connelly Early needs to be healthy ASAP.

The Yankees are adding to the organization's catching depth by signing veteran Mitch Garver to a minor league deal.

Garver, 35, appeared in 50 games with the Seattle Mariners this season before he was released earlier this week.

"Obviously a ton of experience. Had a lot of success, too, in the league," manager Aaron Boone said of Garver ahead of Friday's game against the Atlanta Braves. "Just trying to add to our depth and protection. Get him into our system and see where we can help him and see what he has. And you never know."

The backstop has seven extra-base hits (four home runs) with 15 RBI while posting a .175/.302/.294 slash line for a .596 OPS (73 OPS+, 82 wRC+) with the Mariners, and he would give the Yanks a right-handed option if he is called up to the big league level. He has been better against left-handed pitchers this season with a .659 OPS in 64 plate appearances on the year after posting a .718 OPS against LHP in 156 plate appearances in 2025.

Catcher was a position that general manager Brian Cashman confirmed the club targeted but was unable to make a move before the MLB trade deadline, including having conversations with Baltimore about Adley Rutschman before he was dealt to Boston, as they have not gotten the offensive production from that unit all season.

"We grinded through the market at catching,” Cashman said Monday, but it was “a very thin market of opportunity.”

The GM said that despite the interest, they believe that while the offensive side has been a "struggle," there's hope that Austin Wells is “trending in the right direction” of producing more at the plate.

“I think Austin has been getting his offense going this past month,” Cashman said. “A much more closer version to what he’s capable of... Hopefully, the best is yet to come... he does possess a lot of potential with that bat. Hopefully he's starting to finally tap into it."

Since the All-Star break, Wells is 8-for-31 (.258) with three extra-base hits for an .879 OPS. That run has seen his season slash line rise to .169/.268/.289 for a .557 OPS (57 OPS+, 59 wRC+). While he has dealt with some injuries on the year, that is a .155 decrease in OPS from last season. 

Ali Sanchez, the lone righty catcher, has 15 hits in 56 at-bats (.268), but with just three extra-base hits, his .357 slugging percentage over 32 games has left much to be desired. Lefty batting J.C. Escarra, currently in the minors, slashed .188/.239/.271 for a .510 OPS with six extra-base hits and seven RBI in 32 games earlier this year.

Garver is two years removed from his best big-league career at the plate when he slugged 19 home runs and 50 RBI with a .270 average and .870 OPS in 87 games with the Texas Rangers' World Series-winning side of 2023. He belted three homers that postseason, including one in the Fall Classic, and batted .226 with a .751 OPS in 14 games.

But his hitting really never caught on in the Pacific Northwest. He slashed .185/.292/.333 for a .626 OPS with 28 home runs and 96 RBI in 251 games over parts of three seasons with Seattle.

1910
White Sox pitcher Ed Walsh fired the first shutout in the original Comiskey Park, when he blanked Washington, 4-0. He allowed only two hits and struck out 10 in the game.

Senators outfielder William “Wid” Conroy got both of the hits off of Walshthat afternoon.

1932
With a 1-0 loss in the second game of a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Athletics, the White Sox started a season-worst, 10-game losing streak. Given the 1932 team was the worst in White Sox history, that the worst stretch for the team was just 10 losses is something of a minor miracle. However, the rest of August was simply miserable, as the 10 straight losses also were strung into 13 of 14, 16 of 18, and 21 of 24.

To put into perspective how horrible the 2024 was through 117 games, at this spot on the season calendar, that team was nine games worse than the 1932, worst-ever, White Sox club.

1960
The White Sox swept a doubleheader from the Senators, 9-7 and 3-2, both in walk-off fashion, with Gerry Staley picking up wins in both games.

In the opener, Washington rallied to tie, 7-7, in the top of the ninth off of Staley, but in the bottom half the Sox assaulted reliever Pedro Ramos: Sherm Lollar doubled, Al Smith walked, and Gene Freese crushed a homer to left to win it. (Ramos had started the game on Friday and had just pitch-ran in the ninth to enter the game, so it’s hard to blame him for being out of gas.)

The pattern repeated itself in the nightcap, with Washington rallying to tie in the top of the ninth and the White Sox punching right back. Again, Lollar instigated the rally, with a leadoff single. After two fly outs, Roy Sievers singled pinch-runner Jim Rivera to third, and then Minnie Miñoso cracked a single through the box and into center field for the game-winner.

On the day, Staley threw four innings of one-hit, one-run, one-walk ball. He blew his ninth save of the season in the opener, but earned two wins to up his record to 11-5 on the year (he’d finish at 13-8, topping all AL relievers in both wins and losses).

The White Sox were in the midst of a final push to defend their 1959 AL pennant, just 1 1⁄2 games out after the sweep. The South Siders fought back into a tie for first after another doubleheader sweep a week from today, but faltered from there and finished 10 games out, in third place, at 87-67.

1970
In the midst of the worst season in franchise history, some smiles were seen after the White Sox unveiled the “Big White Machine” at Comiskey Park.

The car was a 1929 Ford, rebuilt by Sox players Ed Herrmann, Bill Melton, Syd O’Brien and the folks at Hawkinson Ford (now known as Hawk Ford). It circled Comiskey Park every time the Sox won a home game — which wasn’t often! 

1972
He played in the big leagues for 23 seasons, and his 300 lifetime wins punched Early Wynn’s ticket intothe Hall of Fame, on this date.

Wynnpitched five seasons for the Sox, winning 64 games. He led the American League in innings pitched, games started, strikeouts and wins at various times between 1958 and 1962 when he was in Chicago. He averaged 38 starts per year during that stretch.

Wynn’s signature season was the pennant-winning year of 1959, when he won the Cy Young with 22 wins and a 3.17 ERA. (There was only one award in those days, instead of one winner per league.) In the early 1980s, Wynn became a White Sox broadcaster.

1974
Comiskey Park was the site for one of the most exciting games of the early 1970s, and it involved Nolan Ryan. The flamethrower took a no-hitter into the ninth inning and led, 1-0, thanks to a Frank Robinson home run. However, after getting the first out in the ninth, it all fell apart for Ryan. 

Dick Allen beat out an infield hit, spoiling the no-hitter, and Carlos May reached on an error. Ken Henderson ripped a single to center to tie the game, and then with two out, Billy Sharp singled to right to win it.

The Sox beat the Angels, 2-1, getting all three of their hits in the final inning. White Sox starter Jim Kaat was brilliant as well, and the late rally saved him from a hard-luck loss.  

1994
In a game in Anaheim, Frank Thomas drove in two runs in the a 10-5 White Sox win, in 12 innings over the Angels. The RBIs were his 100th and 101ston the season. They came in the team’s 110th game, which set the franchise mark for fastest to 100 RBIs. 

Thomas also held the old mark — set the year before, when he collected his 100th RBI in the team’s 118th contest.

2005
Before a 3-1 win over Seattle, a concourse statue of Carlton Fisk was unveiled, the third-ever at Sox Park after Charles Comiskey and Minnie Miñoso. The big blow in the game was a 20% WPA home run from Paul Konerko, a two-run shot that put the White Sox up for good, 2-1.

Fisk had his No. 72 retired by the White Sox eight years earlier, in 1997.

2025
With a steal of second base in a game during a 4-3 loss in 11 innings at Seattle, Luis Robert Jr. became only the fourth member of the franchise to log at least 100 home runs and 100 steals while in a White Sox uniform. Robert led off the eighth inning of a tie game with a single, then stole his 100th career base (earlier in the game, Robert led off the second inning with a walk, but was picked off first, getting safely second base on a throwing error). Robert joined Minnie Miñoso, Ray Durham and Alexei Ramírez in the select 100-100 club.

Robert, who went 3-for-4 in the game with a double and a walk, finished his White Sox career with 102 home runs and 102 stolen bases.

It has been a bit of a roller coaster season for the Cubbies. They got off to a great start, winning 19 of their first 31 games. But by mid-June they were at .500 and barely treading water. Now they’re playing well again, winning 13 of 20 since the All-Star break, and they have a six-game lead for the top Wild Card spot.

Chicago Cubs (67-49) at Kansas City Royals (48-68) at Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO

Cubs: 5.13 runs scored/game (2nd in MLB), 4.27 runs allowed/game (10th)

Royals: 4.14 runs scored/game (27th), 5.03 runs allowed/game (27th)

Pete Crow-Armstrong is having an MVP-type season, and will likely reach the 30 HR/30 SB mark for the second year in a row. Sammy Sosa is the only other player in Cubs history to enjoy a 30/30 season. Alex Bregman is a .238/.364/.384 hitter in 42 career games against the Royals. Nico Hoerner is batting .388/.402/.538 with three home runs in his last 20 games. Carson Kelly is hitting .333/.426/.559 against lefties this year. Ian Happ is batting just .202/.298/.375 in road games.

The Royals will start Daniel Lynch IV for the first time today, and will give him a chance to be a starter down the stretch. The Cubs have not yet announced starters for Friday or Saturday, but Kevin Gausman and Clay Holmes are likely to make their debut with the team after being acquired at the trade deadline. Gausman was 1-6 with a 6.47 ERA in his last eight starts with the Blue Jays. He has a 2.81 ERA in three career starts at Kauffman Stadium.

Clay Holmes has been out since mid-May with a fibula injury, but is expected to return this weekend against the Royals. He was acquired at the trade deadline from the Mets after a 2.1 rWAR season last year as a starting pitcher. He faced the Royals in the 2024 ALDS as a Yankees reliever.

The Cubs have had difficulty keeping pitchers healthy – they have 14 pitchers on the Injured List. They have a 3.87 ERA from their relievers, 11th-lowest in the league. The Cubs picked up Braxton Garrett from the Marlins and former Kansas Jayhawk pitcher Ryan Zeferjahn from the Angels at the trade deadline.

The Cubs are playing very well and fighting for postseason positions, while the Royals are throwing spaghetti against a wall to see what sticks. The Royals do have Bobby Witt Jr. back, which gives them a chance to beat anyone, but their hodgepodge collection of pitchers will need to keep a solid Cubbies lineup in check.

The Atlanta Braves are carrying some strong vibes into this weekend’s road series at the New York Yankees.

They are fresh off a 7-0 homestand against the Nationals and Marlins, and have won a season-long eight straight games, pushing their NL East lead back to 8.5 games.

They’ll put that on the line in the Big Apple, starting Friday night with the Braves debut of Tyler Mahle (3-9, 5.13 ERA).

Much of the disappointment surrounding Mahle’s addition wasn’t about him specifically, but more about the fact that he was the lone starter addition.

The right-hander’s ERA on his face isn’t entirely representative of his season, with an xERA (4.09), xFIP (4,11) and FIP (4.37) which are better than his ERA. Since returning from a one-month injured list stint due to a hamstring strain in late June, Mahle is 2-2 with a 3.79 ERA in seven starts, striking out 32, walking 13 and giving up just three homers in 38 innings.

His last start in San Francisco, though, was his worst in that span, giving up five runs on five hits over 5 2/3 innings. He did strike out a season-high nine in that start.

The good news (of sorts) is that Mahle has been a somewhat reliable innings eater, throwing between 5 and 5 2/3 innings 11 times in 18 starts this season. He’s lasted less than five innings just four times, but also thrown six-plus innings just three times and seven-plus innings twice.

The Braves could stand to get a longer outing in Friday’s series opener after a rain delay washed out Martín Pérez’s Thursday start after just three innings, taxing the bullpen a bit.

Unfortunately for Atlanta, the Yankees are throwing their three best starters for this weekend series. That begins with an old friend in Max Fried (4-3, 3.12), who will be facing the team he debuted and played for his eight major league seasons for for the first time.

The southpaw former Brave’s second season in New York was derailed by a left elbow bone bruise which sidelined him for over two months. However, he returned a few weeks ago and has allowed four runs on eight hits over 13 1/3 innings in his three starts back, not factoring into the decision in any of them.

Absence aside, this has been a typical Fried season. He’s not nearly on pace for last year’s win total, when he led the majors with 19 victories, but he’s well on pace for his seventh straight season with an ERA of 3.25 or better, averaging just under a strikeout per inning.

After he allowed a combined 27 homers the last two seasons, he’s allowed just one in 75 innings this season.

While Gerrit Cole and Cam Schlittler will follow on the mound for New York in this series, the potential saving grace for the Braves could be that the currently Aaron Judge-less Yankees’ offense still hasn’t really figured things out in an extended funk.

New York has scored more than two runs just once in the last seven games and has plated five-plus runs just four times in 19 games since the All-Star Break.

There’s a forecast of scattered thunderstorms for New York on Friday evening, so keep tabs on Battery Power about the possibility of a delayed start to the series opener.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Friday, August 7, 7:05 p.m. EDT

Location: Yankee Stadium, Bronx, N.Y.

TV/Streaming: BravesVision

Radio: 680 AM / 93.7 FM The Fan, La Mejor 1600/1460/1130 AM

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The weekend starts NOW!

Here are my favorite MLBhome run props for today's slate, headlined by St. Louis Cardinals slugger Alec Burleson and Cleveland Guardians Jo Adell. 

Here are my favorite MLB picks for Friday, Aug. 7.

Best MLB home run props today

Home run pick: Jo Adell (+325)

Chicago White Sox left-hander Noah Schultz has struggled since being brought up, with right-handed hitters giving him the most trouble. The last 60 he has faced own a .339 xBA, .573 xSLG, and .374 xwOBA, while Schultz is allowing a 75% elevation rate to those right-handed hitters.

I like newly acquired Cleveland Guardian Jo Adell in this spot tonight to hit his first home run in a Guardians uniform. He draws the third-highest matchup rating on Batters-Box today, and in 35 elite ratings, he has left the yard 25.7% of the time.

Over his last 30 at-bats against a left-handed pitcher, Adell owns a .893 SLG, 1.326 OPS, and .554 wOBA, while producing a 47% hard hit rate and 23.5% barrel rate.

I would take his home run prop down to +300.

• Time: 6:40 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: CLEGuardians.TV, Chicago Sports Network

Home run pick: Alec Burleson (+365)

Nothing like backing the burley boy on a Friday evening.

St. Louis Cardinals big fella Alec Burleson finds himself in a smash spot against Colorado Rockies right-hander Ryan Feltner. The Rockies starter owns a 10.64 ERA over the last 60 left-handed hitters he has faced.

During that stretch, those lefties are producing a 13.6% barrel rate while owning a .379 xBA, .763 xSLG, and .412 xwOBA.

The Cardinals slugger has maintained a .423 BA, .731 SLG, and 1.231 OPS while producing a 60% hard hit rate and 15% barrel rate over his last 30 plate appearances against right-handed pitching.

This is a strong spot for the big fella to once again go deep this week.

Take this down to +300 at the most.

• Time: 8:15 p.m. ET
• Where to watch: Cardinals.TV, Rockies.TV

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