CLEVELAND — The Yankees can breathe a small sigh of relief on Austin Wells.
Manager Aaron Boone said after Monday night’s 10-inning 7-5 win against the Guardians that preliminary MRI results on Wells showed no cause for concern. He was put on the injured list this weekend with cervical headaches.
“So far, so good,” Boone said. “I’m sure he’ll meet with the doctor again this week and then hopefully be able to start ramping up.”
J.C. Escarra started Monday at catcher, which completed a four-day whirlwind that began late Friday night when he was told that he was being optioned to Triple-A. In his first start since his reprieve, Escarra committed a catcher’s interference and was 0-for-2 before he was lifted for pinch hitter Amed Rosario and replaced by Ali Sánchez.
About 12 hours after being optioned, Escarra was eating pizza in New York with his wife and child — squeezing in some family time while taking advantage of the three-day window to report to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre — when he was told not to leave town just yet.
Sure enough, Escarra, 31, was “recalled” without missing a day of the Yankees season because of Wells’ symptoms. So now Escarra and Sánchez — the catcher who was initially called up to take Escarra’s place and provide a right-handed bat and break up the two left-handed catchers — are platooning.
“They didn’t even give me time to think about it,” Escarra joked with The Post. “I have an apartment in New York, so I wasn’t in a rush when I could be with my family. Stuff that I don’t get to do because we have games every day.
“A few hours later they called me: ‘How fast can you get here?’ Here I am starting tonight. Everything happens for a reason, but I’m just focused on … doing as good a job as [Wells] did behind the plate. I was taking the bad news well, but this is where I want to be.”
Escarra, who had a three-hit game May 25, said he has caught all members of the Yankees starting rotation at some point over the past two seasons. That lessens his adjustment to a bigger role.
“Some of that option was circumstantial, and I think he understands that,” Boone said. “He’s done a great job with our pitchers. He’s been entrenched in our culture for the last couple years. I’ve maintained I feel like there is a lot more in there for him offensively. I think part of that is just getting an opportunity to play more frequently. I have a ton of confidence when J.C. is behind the plate.”
Giancarlo Stanton could rejoin the Yankees as soon as the next homestand (June 16-21) against the White Sox and Reds, Boone said. He will spend this week continuing to ramp up his hitting and running.
Max Schuemann had a table-setting walk in the 10th inning ahead of Cody Bellinger’s tiebreaking two-run single. He had entered the game as a pinch runner for Paul Goldschmidt, hitting between Ben Rice and Bellinger.
Schuemann challenged a 3-1 strike call and was so confident that he was right that he began stripping off his hitting equipment as the replay showed ball four.
“That actually gave me a little comfort when he started doing that,” Boone quipped.