NEW YORK, NY — The average fan of the game may have not known that New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells has Dominican ties.
But with the recent unveiling of each team’s roster in the 2026 World Baseball Classic, they sure know now as Wells is set to play for the Dominican Republic in the WBC.
The 26-year-old from Las Vegas, Nevada, is Dominican through his mother and his maternal grandparents were born in the D.R.. This will be a good addition to sure up the Dominican Republic’s defense with a lineup that is absolutely loaded.
Austin Wells will be joining a D.R. lineup headlined by Fernando Tatis Jr., Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Juan Soto, Julio Rodríguez, among many other superstars – Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
Nelson Cruz, the general manager of the Dominican Republic, went out of his way to recruit Wells last October, according to Daniel Santana of Diario Libre.
Latino Sports had the opportunity of speaking with Wells about his Dominican heritage in Spring Training of 2025 as he was named a finalist for the 2024 American League LatinoMVP Rookie of the Year Award.
“That’s pretty cool having my Dominican heritage,” he said. “Having my grandparents be from there, it’s special to me.”
Wells was the Yankees’ first round pick out of Arizona in the 2020 MLB Draft, selected by New York at 28th overall. As a left-handed hitting catcher, he had to battle a lot of questions about his defense and positional fit. When he was drafted, many scouts thought that he might have had to be converted to a first baseman or outfielder, but Wells didn’t let that deter him as he spent extra time working behind the scenes with the Yankees’ minor league coaches.
In September of 2023, he made his MLB debut with the Yankees as a catcher, but only played in 19 games. Wells then broke camp with the team in 2024, and was on the MLB roster for the entire season. That was not smooth sailing for him with an American League-leading 11 errors in 872.1 innings and a fielding percentage of .988.
This past season, Wells really stepped up his game, cutting down his errors to three and increasing his fielding percentage to .997 in 1,000.1 innings.
As time has gone on with more reps under his belts, Austin Wells has shown major progression behind the plate – Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
He’s improved to the point that he is not only a serviceable catcher, but now considered one of the best defensive catchers in MLB—rated as the fifth-best defensive catcher on Fangraphs in 2025.
To go further, Wells has demonstrated some good power for a catcher with 38 home runs in 825 MLB career at-bats. Last season, he had 21 home runs, 71 RBI, five stolen bases, and a slashline of .219/.275/.436 in 401 at-bats.
The WBC will be a great test for Wells defensively to see how he handles a new pitching staff and to see where he is at early in the season offensively.
An interesting sight for the 2026 WBC will be how Austin Wells and Agustin Ramirez of the Marlins handle a brand new pitching staff under the guidance of manager Albert Pujols – Image Credit: Bill Menzel/Latino Sports
He will also be joined by his former teammate Agustin Ramirez on the Dominican Republic’s WBC roster, rounding out their catching depth.
Ramirez was in the Yankees’ farm system with Wells for three and a half seasons and was a part of a trade to the Miami Marlins for 2B Jazz Chisholm Jr. at the 2024 MLB Trade Deadline.
As Wells prepares to suit up for the 2026 WBC, the D.R. will start in Pool D play at loanDepot Park in Miami, Florida, spanning from March 6, 2026-March 11, 2026.
Pool D consists of the D.R., Venezuela, the Netherlands, Israel, and Nicaragua with the top two teams advancing into the knockout stages of the tournament.
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