Austin Wells homers twice, Carlos Rodon solid in final spring start as Yankees beat Tigers

Wells has hit five homers this spring

Mar 21, 2025; Lakeland, Florida, USA; New York Yankees catcher Austin Wells (28) hits a home run during the first inning against the Detroit Tigers at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium. / Mike Watters-Imagn Images

Austin Wells continued his hot hitting and Carlos Rodon was solid in his final spring start as the Yankees defeated the Detroit Tigers, 4-0, in Lakeland.

Here are the takeaways…

-Earlier in the day, Dominic Smith opted out of his contract with the Yankees and was removed from the lineup. Barring any last-minute changes, the Yankees are content with the lefties they have in the lineup/bench and it was proven right early in this one.

Wells led off the game smashing a 3-2 fastball over the right field wall. But the left-handed catcher wasn’t done. After hitting a single in his third at-bat, Wells came up in the seventh and finished his night smoking a three-run bomb that had an exit velocity of 104.3 mph and went 383 feet.

Wells has hit five spring training home runs and finished 3-for-4 while driving in all four Yankees runs. It’s easy to see Wells leading off for the Yankees against right-handed pitchers the way he’s been swinging the bat.

Ben Rice, the other power-hitting lefty, was also very impressive smacking two doubles to go 2-for-4. Rice’s place on the roster isn’t confirmed, but he’s now hitting .278 with an OPS of .943 this spring. It’ll be hard not to include him with Giancarlo Stanton likely landing on the IL to start the season.

-Speaking of hitters trying to make the team. With Smith opting out, Pablo Reyes is a potential right-handed fit for the Yankees’ bench. Unfortunately, he went 0-for-3 on Friday but is still hitting .297 with a .831 OPS this spring.

Other notable batters include Trent Grisham who finished 0-for-3 with a walk, Oswaldo Cabrera who went 0-for-4 and Oswald Peraza who was hitless in his three at-bats while striking out twice.

-Rodon had his final tune-up before starting Opening Day and he was good. The southpaw worked around trouble a bit, but when he needed an out he got one with his fastball, which topped out around 96 mph, and slider combination to the tune of five strikeouts. Rodon left after 4.1 innings (77 pitches/45 strikes) of scoreless ball, allowing three hits and three walks.

–Yoendry Gomez is looking to earn a spot in the Yankees’ bullpen and he was very effective, allowing just one walk and striking out two batters in 2.1 innings of work.