Yankees batterymates reunite with DR as Wells crushes HR for 1st Classic hit

MIAMI -- When Luis Severino talked to his wife following the Dominican Republic’s one-sided win over the Netherlands, his performance wasn’t the topic of conversation.

She wanted to talk about Austin Wells’ home run.

“She was more excited than me that he hit a homer,” Severino said.

Wells and Severino were the starting battery in Sunday’s 12-1 victory, reuniting after spending the 2023 season as teammates with the Yankees. Severino threw four innings of one-run ball to earn the win, getting ample support from the Dominican offense, which belted four home runs in the offensive barrage.

“It just got me back to the Yankee days,” Severino said. “We used to work together, so it was really nice. We got on the same page really quick. It was nice to have him calling my game.”

Although they overlapped for only one month in New York – Wells was a September callup during Severino’s final season in pinstripes – the pair had worked together during a few of Severino’s rehab starts, and the right-hander was on the mound for Wells’ second career Major League start.

“Pretty special getting to catch him again,” Wells said. “This is my first time ever playing outside of the Yankees umbrella since I got drafted, so I definitely had some nerves going into the first [exhibition] game in the Dominican. Being able to be on a team that has such confidence, it's infectious.”

Wells – who qualified to play for the D.R. because his mother is of Dominican descent – has worked all 16 innings behind the plate in the first two games of the WBC, already catching 12 different pitchers on the staff – 10 of whom had scoreless outings.

“Getting to catch these guys, a lot of them for the first time, it’s been really awesome,” Wells said. “They've come out here and done their thing, pitched to their strengths and really haven't given in in the few situations where they've had to compete. It’s been impressive to be behind the plate for these guys; they are on the team for a reason.”

“The way that he prepares himself with the players, with the pitchers and the starter, I think there's no secret how he handles things behind the plate,” manager Albert Pujols said. “I'm just glad that he's on our side and helping us to win games.”

After Severino departed Sunday’s game, Wells blasted a two-run home run in the D.R.’s six-run fifth inning, a frame that blew the game wide open.

Wells circled the bases and found his teammates awaiting him near home plate, ready to take part in what has quickly become a tradition for the team. Wells was given the team’s custom home run jacket and chain as his teammates hooted and hollered, an unofficial welcome to a club that included Junior Caminero, Oneil Cruz, Julio Rodríguez and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the five D.R. players who had already gone deep in the Classic prior to Wells’ shot.

“It was great,” Wells said. “Getting to contribute to the win, that was big time.”

If there’s one area Wells wants to improve during the WBC, it’s his handshakes with teammates, which aren’t nearly as choreographed or extravagant as some of the other ones his teammates have put together.

“We have to lock those in before we get deeper into the tournament,” Wells said. “I think we will.”