Should Yankees Send Down Young Starter Who ‘Never Found His Groove’?

The New York Yankees have been on quite a skid since the All-Star break, and they’re searching for a way out of this mess.

Rather than sitting at the top of the American League East, the Yankees are barely holding on to a wild card spot. They may need to shake up the roster in the coming days if the team can’t string a few wins together.

Stephen Parello of Yanks Go Yard recently urged the Yankees to demote struggling catcher Austin Wells down the stretch, but the idea doesn’t make too much sense.

“Austin Wells has never found his groove this season, but his latest struggles have made his presence in the lineup completely untenable. The young catcher has been an automatic out since the All-Star break with a putrid .334 OPS in the second half that simply can’t continue,” Parello wrote. “Meanwhile, every game that Wells starts behind the dish means that the team is leaving one of its better bats on the bench as it struggles to find playing time for both Ben Rice and Paul Goldschmidt.

“Perhaps the best way to proceed forward would be to make Rice the primary catcher and recall J.C. Escarra to handle backup duties. That would either send Wells to Triple-A or perhaps even to the IL to address his strange medical issue.”

There’s almost no chance the Yankees will consider demoting Wells to Triple-A. Wells is a staple on the roster, and the team seems to have a lot of confidence in him, regardless of the struggles at the dish.

There’s a chance the Yankees could entertain the idea of throwing Wells on the injured list if there’s seriously something wrong with him, but at this point in time, it doesn’t make much sense. He’s a solid option behind the dish.

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