Austin

Wells

Rice steps into the heart of New York’s loaded lineup behind Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger following last year’s 26-homer breakthrough campaign. The 27-year-old slugger’s realistic 30-homer ceiling makes him an upper-echelon fantasy catcher heading into the regular season. Here’s the full lineup set to face Giants ace Logan Webb at Oracle Park in primetime: Trent Grisham (CF), Judge (RF), Bellinger (LF), Rice (1B), Giancarlo Stanton (DH), Jazz Chisholm Jr. (2B), José Caballero (SS), Ryan McMahon (3B) and Austin Wells (C).

Caminero has been one of the driving forces behind the Dominican Republic’s relentless onslaught during the international tournament, hitting .275 (6-for-16) with two homers and six RBI through five contests. He’ll help anchor a star-studded lineup as the Dominican Republic faces Team USA ace Paul Skenes at loanDepot Park in Miami with a berth in the World Baseball Classic final at stake. Here’s the full lineup: Fernando Tatis Jr. (RF), Ketel Marte (2B), Juan Soto (LF), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (1B), Manny Machado (3B), Caminero (DH), Julio Rodríguez (CF), Austin Wells (C) and Geraldo Perdomo (SS).

They’ll face the winner of Venezuela versus Japan. Wells’ homer, which came as a pinch-hitter for Agustín Ramírez, was the lone one hit by the D.R. tonight, but Manny Machado and Junior Caminero both had two hits and an RBI. The club knocked out Hyun-Jin Ryu in the second and forced Korea to use five pitchers over the first three innings. After that, the score held steady at 7-0 for 3 1/2 innings until Wells ended things.

Clarke Schmidt went on the 60-day IL to open up a spot. Goldschmidt joined the Yankees as their starting first baseman last year, but he’ll mostly be asked to play against lefties this season after faring far better against them than righties last season. Ben Rice will surely lose a few at-bats as a result of the move, but it seems like Austin Wells might fare worse with Rice set to do some catching this year.

Rice is likely to come off the board as a top-five catcher in fantasy drafts this spring, but he’s rapidly becoming one of the more polarizing hitters in the entire fantasy landscape. He ranked among the league’s upper echelon in average exit velocity (95th percentile), barrel rate (92nd percentile) and hard-hit percentage (97th percentile) during last year’s 26-homer breakthrough campaign. The soon-to-be 27-year-old slugger appears poised to catch more often than originally anticipated with the Yankees bringing back veteran lefty-masher Paul Goldschmidt to handle the cold corner against southpaws. Kirshner notes that Rice, who is currently viewed as the club’s third backstop, could potentially move into the backup catcher role behind starter Austin Wells in addition to serving as their primary first baseman against right-handed pitching to free up a roster spot for someone like Jasson Domínguez. The added playing time opportunity comes paired with the inherent injury risk that has always followed catchers behind the plate.

Catcher is usually the weak link for the Dominican Republic on the position side, but Yainer Diaz and Wells will make for a solid duo this time around and things are even brighter going forward. Wells, whose mother is of Dominican descent, apparently got the nod over Agustín Ramírez. The D.R. used Francisco Mejia and Gary Sánchez behind the plate last time around in 2023. Come 2029, there’s a good chance Samuel Basallo will be the team’s primary catcher, with Cardinals prospect Rainiel Rodríguez also potentially in the mix.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone will not make any changes with New York facing Blue Jays rookie sensation Trey Yesavage following a lopsided series-opening defeat earlier this weekend. Here’s the full lineup: Trent Grisham (CF), Judge (RF), Cody Bellinger (LF), Ben Rice (1B), Giancarlo Stanton (DH), Jazz Chisholm Jr. (3B), Ryan McMahon (3B), Anthony Volpe (SS) and Austin Wells (C).

That means the Yankees with carry three catchers with Austin Wells and Ben Rice also on the roster. Perhaps Rice will be used mostly as a first baseman in this series, but Escarra has been in the minors for the entire month of September, so this comes as a bit of a surprise.

Wells smacked a run-scoring single off of Cade Povich in the third inning that increased the Bombers’ advantage to 3-0. The 26-year-old backstop also worked a walk in the seventh inning and scored on a sacrifice fly by Aaron Judge. With his two-hit evening, Wells is slashing .215/.272/.437 with 21 long balls, 68 RBI and five stolen bases on the season.

That right-hander is Kevin Gausman, who Goldschmidt is 10-for-19 with a homer and five walks against lifetime. With Goldschmidt in the lineup, Ben Rice is catching and Austin Wells is on the bench tonight.