Yankees' Austin Wells has found groove at the plate after honing in on his defense 

Austin Wells first came up to the Yankees when the calendar turned to September last year. He brought along a reputation for being better while standing with a bat in his hands alongside the plate than he was while squatting behind it.

But the 25-year-old lefthanded hitter struggled, hitting .229 in his 19-game welcome to the big leagues last season. He then hit .190 with a homer, five RBIs and a .567 OPS through his first 36 games this season as part of a timeshare with Jose Trevino.

“Look, being a catcher in the major leagues is not an easy thing to do,” Aaron Boone said. “And when you’re a rookie catcher and you’re coming into a veteran-laden staff, you’ve got to handle that side of the ball first. And I think he’s been so committed to that side of the ball, maybe it took a minute for the offense to catch up a little bit.”

During the last two months or so, Wells has started to adjust to the level of pitching and has gained a reputation as a player who can bat in the middle of the order. And his work behind the plate was better than advertised all along.

Wells began to take on the primary catching role before Trevino strained his left quadriceps on July 12 in Baltimore, although both had started 48 games at that point. Even when Trevino returns from a rehab assignment that is expected to commence Sunday or Tuesday, Wells is set to continue as the primary guy at the position.

The Yankees appear to be growing themselves a quality catcher. Boone said last week that “it’s just been exciting to see him grow on both sides of the ball.”

The Texas Rangers were in town to start a three-game series on Friday night at Yankee Stadium, but so were the remnants of Tropical Storm Debby. The prospect of rain and wind resulted in the game being postponed Friday morning and rescheduled as a single-admission doubleheader on Saturday afternoon starting at 1:05 p.m.

Wells will carry an overall 77-game slash line of .249/.346/.413 with eight homers, a triple, 11 doubles and 29 RBIs into the doubleheader.

But there’s growth visible inside those numbers.

He has a .370/.438/.556 slash line with five extra-base hits and nine RBIs in his 13 starts since July 21.

“I think having a good approach and a good plan in the beginning of the season but not getting results was kind of where I was at,” Wells said Wednesday. “[I have been] able to get some results here in the last month and I think that’s helped a lot. Just trying to produce and move the lineup. I think that’s given me a lot of confidence to go out there and perform.”

The results have carried on for longer than just the last month for the 2020 first-round pick. Wells has a .304/.385/.539 slash line, four doubles, one triple, seven homers and 22 RBIs in his last 32 starts dating to June 6.

“I feel like the defense has been good even since last September when we called him up,” Boone said. “It was better than I anticipated. I’ve seen his investment on that side of the ball and with pitchers, and as a young man and as a rookie, the presence that he has with pitchers and his teammates.

“Offense, a little slow to come. But certainly here over now whatever it’s been . . . you’re seeing, I think, the hitter a lot of people envisioned when he was drafted out of Arizona. It’s starting to look like that . . . And it’s added a lot of length to our lineup.”

Wells batted fifth against lefthander Tyler Anderson in Thursday’s series-closing loss to the Angels and has been batting mostly in the cleanup spot of late behind Aaron Judge.

“He’s just looking like a real hitter, a real middle-of-the-order hitter,” Boone said Wednesday. “And it’s exciting to see him string together these quality at-bats.

“I think this is what he is, and it just took him a minute to get it. And now he’s getting regular everyday at-bats. That probably has helped a little bit. But I think the experience he’s gained up here, he’s gotten a bit settled.’’

Yankees obtain outfielder. The Yankees sent cash considerations to Toronto in exchange for outfielder Cam Eden, 26. Eden, who was batting .198 with seven homers, 35 RBIs and 26 steals for Triple-A Buffalo, was assigned to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.