The Yankees posted their opening day lineup and catcher Austin Wells bats leadoff, and the plan is to use him in this slot against right handed pitchers. Is this a good strategy? Wells does bat better against righties than lefties. In his brief career, however, his OBP vs. LHP is .319. That’s not terrible, but it’s not great either. If the idea is to put a man on for Judge, New York could probably do better.

Teams have tried this with other catchers, but a problem arises in home games. It takes the catcher some time to remove his gear, giving him less time in the on deck circle to prepare for his opening PA, and this tended to derail the experiment. I remember the Pirates trying this with Jason Kendall. They got some good milage out of that, but wound up getting better production when he batted third.

I would bat Wells ninth, making him a secondary leadoff hitter as the lineup makes the turn. The Yankees could use Jasson Dominguez showing the on-base prowess of this minor league career. Then they could bat a switch hitter at the top and not worry about platooning.