Five Yankees with something to prove this season
Yankees catcher Austin Wells. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
TAMPA, Fla. – Yankees pitchers and catchers report for spring training on Wednesday, with the first official workout coming on Thursday. The Yankees tied with the Blue Jays for the best record in the AL last season at 94-68 but, because of a dispiriting no-show in a four-game ALDS loss to Toronto, the accomplishments of the regular season were quickly forgotten. Position players do not report until Sunday; the first full squad workout to come on Monday. Still, there are no shortage of storylines when it comes to the pitchers and catchers, with plenty among that group having something to prove in 2026. Here are five:
David Bednar
The righthander, after a rough debut outing following his arrival at the trade deadline from Pittsburgh, ended up as the Yankees’ best reliever the final two months of the regular season, which continued into the playoffs. The 2026 bullpen is filled with question marks and uncertain roles, though not at the back end as Bednar will enter the season as the unquestioned closer. The 31-year-old gave zero indications he can’t handle the pressure and spotlight that comes with being the Yankees closer, but there’s still a difference in doing it for two months and doing it for six.
Ryan Weathers
With rotation members Gerrit Cole, Carlos Rodon and Clarke Schmidt all scheduled to start the season on the IL, the Yankees brought in Weathers via trade from the Marlins to provide rotation depth. After mostly non-descript seasons from 2021-23 with the Padres and then Marlins, Weathers showed promise, when healthy, the last two years. The 26-year-old went 2-2 with a 3.99 ERA in eight starts last season with Florida but the lefthander, whom the Yankees view as a swingman they hope can provide quality both in the rotation and in the bullpen, spent most of 2025 on the IL (first with a left flexor muscle strain and later with a left lat strain). Weathers posted a 3.63 ERA in 16 starts with the Marlins in 2024 but missed three months of that season with a left index finger strain.
Austin Wells
Drafted as a hit-first catcher in 2020 (taken 28th overall), Wells impressed few rival scouts with his defensive work during his climb through the minors. But the lefthanded-hitting catcher, since he was drafted, has relentlessly worked on his defense. By the end of last season, Wells’ first full big-league season as the club’s starting catcher, he had, according to many of those scouts, turned himself into an average, and a times above-average, major-league backstop. But the 26-year-old never clicked offensively with any degree of consistency, hitting, yes, 21 homers but still overall a disappointment on that side of the ball with a .219 batting average and .712 OPS.
Camilo Doval
The hard-throwing righty was among the headline acquisitions of the Yankees at last year’s trade deadline, but Doval simply did not have the expected impact on the bullpen. With the departures of free agents Luke Weaver and Devin Williams – two of the club’s high-leverage arms in 2025, even with the pair’s struggles at times – Doval is being counted on this season in a way he wasn’t last season. The 28-year-old did provide some hope down the stretch, quietly pitching well, turning in scoreless outings in 11 of his final 13 appearances.
Gerrit Cole
Cole’s resume, one that had the righthander on a Hall of Fame track before Tommy John surgery last spring wiped out his 2025 season, speaks for itself. The righthander, who won the 2023 AL Cy Young Award with the Yankees, has nothing to prove insofar as producing at the sport’s highest level. Performing in New York? Check. Big-game performer? Check. Clubhouse leader? Check. Durability? Before 2024, when a flexor strain cost him half of that season and then last spring’s UCL tear led to season-ending surgery, Cole was among the most durable pitchers in the game. And therein lies the intrigue. Cole likely won’t be back until June at the earliest and it’s impossible to know what kind of pitcher the now 35-year-old will be. Every pitcher recovers differently from Tommy John and many pitchers who have had the surgery say it takes a full two years from the time of the surgery to truly feel like themselves again on a big-league mound. Cole’s recovery to this point has been without a hitch but, even if that continues through the spring and the first two months of the regular season, it’s simply unknowable what version of the ace the Yankees will be getting upon his return.
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
