Austin Wells DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

New York Yankees first baseman Paul Goldschmidt and catcher Austin Wells are not in the starting lineup for Wednesday's series finale against the hosting Seattle Mariners. Ben Rice will start at first base and bat second, while J.C. Escarra will do the catching and hit eighth against Mariners right-hander Luis Castillo. Goldy, who is having a resurgent season in his first year in the Bronx, will take the day off after starting each of the team's last six games. He's currently tied for third in all of baseball with 55 hits and ranks fourth with a .344 average, adding four homers, 21 RBI and 26 runs scored. Wells is batting just .214 (27-for-126) but is tied for third among all catchers with his eight home runs. His 28 RBI are tied for most with Seattle's Cal Raleigh at catcher. Neither Rice nor Escarra have ever faced Castillo in their career. Rice is a sneaky DFS power option with nine homers and 20 RBI on the year.

New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells connected on his eighth homer of the year in the Yankees' 11-5 victory on Monday night in Seattle. He finished the game 1-for-4 with the three-run homer as his only hit and a sacrifice fly to tack on his fourth RBI of the night. The 25-year-old Yankees' backstop now has eight home runs and 28 RBI in his 36 games, and he is hitting .215 with a .264 ISO, .323 wOBA, and 45.5% hard-hit rate. Wells has established himself as one of the better power options behind the plate, and he should continue to bring solid production behind the plate with a prominent spot in the Yankees' productive batting order.

New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells is out of the starting lineup ahead of Friday's game against the Athletics. Wells will get a rest day here after starting in all three games during their most recent series against the San Diego Padres. He went 3-for-12 with a home run and five RBI during that series. In his absence, J.C. Escarra will cover behind the plate and bat seventh versus right-hander Osvaldo Bido on Friday. Fantasy managers should adjust their lineups ahead of first pitch.