Arizona Professional Athletes

Austin Wells Heats Up at the Right Time

Arizona catcher Austin Wells gave Wildcats fans something to cheer about this week, going deep in back-to-back games for the New York Yankees. On Sunday, Sept. 13, Wells delivered a solo home run in a tight 2-0 shutout of the crosstown rival Mets — a game where every run was precious. Cam Schlittler held the Mets scoreless for six innings, and Wells's blast was one of only two Yankee homers on the night, per the Sportsnet game recap. He followed it up Monday against the Twins, launching another solo shot in an 8-3 Yankees win, finishing 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.

The back-to-back long balls are a bright spot in what has otherwise been a tough offensive campaign for the UA product. Wells is batting .180 on the season, and a Heavy Sports report noted that analysts have flagged his performance — alongside several other Yankees regulars — as a disappointment relative to expectations. Still, timely power in a pennant-race stretch is exactly what a contender needs from its catcher, and Wells delivered in two of the week's biggest moments for New York.

Silseth Carving Out a Bullpen Role in Texas

Over in Arlington, Chase Silseth continued to log meaningful late-season innings for the Texas Rangers. The former Wildcat appeared in three games between Sept. 16 and Sept. 19, spanning 2.2 total innings and racking up six strikeouts across those outings. He struck out three in a full inning of work during Texas's 4-2 win over Boston on Wednesday, then punched out two more across two appearances against the Blue Jays on Friday and Saturday. His ERA currently sits at 3.28 — solid production for a reliever working in a high-leverage stretch run environment.

Silseth's week is a quiet-but-consistent story of a young pitcher cementing his value in a big-league bullpen. Three appearances in four days signals that the Rangers manager is trusting him to hold leads and bridge innings when it counts most.

Ginkel Grinds Through a Rough Week

Arizona closer Kevin Ginkel had a mixed week with the Diamondbacks. He struck out two in a clean inning of work against Miami on Wednesday in a 2-4 loss, but a night earlier things got away from him — he allowed two earned runs across a single inning in an 8-7 Arizona win on Tuesday, watching his ERA tick up to 4.16. Ginkel has now surrendered runs in multiple outings this month, though Arizona managed to escape with a victory on Tuesday despite his rough outing. His ERA currently stands at 4.10, a number he'll be looking to stabilize over the final games of the regular season.

On the Horizon

One name to watch further down the road: shortstop Mason White, part of Arizona's 2025 College World Series squad, has been assigned to the Arizona Fall League as he continues his development in the Red Sox system. He's not yet in the big leagues, but his trajectory is worth tracking for Wildcats fans keeping tabs on the pipeline.

Three Arizona alumni — Wells, Silseth, and Ginkel — all saw action in meaningful September baseball this week, a testament to the continued presence of Tucson's program at the highest level of the game.

The Wells Watch

Austin Wells is ice cold at the worst possible time.

The Arizona product and Yankees catcher has gone hitless in seven straight games, with his batting average cratering to .177 as New York enters the final weeks of the regular season with a postseason berth on the line. The slide has forced the Yankees front office into action — the organization has been making active roster decisions around Wells as they weigh how to handle the backstop heading into October.

Wells went 0-for-4 against the Mets on Friday, Sep. 11, extending the streak and pushing his average down from .179 to a season-low .177 by Saturday. The cold snap is particularly jarring given the timing: Wells had moments earlier in the season where his bat looked like an asset, but that version of him feels distant now.

Former Yankees manager Joe Girardi, asked about Wells publicly ahead of New York's series against Colorado earlier in the week, weighed in with an honest assessment — a signal that the conversation around Wells has moved beyond the clubhouse and into the broader baseball media.

The Yankees did beat the Rockies 5-3 on Tuesday, and defeated the Mets 6-4 on Friday, so the wins are coming. But Wells' contribution during the stretch has been essentially nil at the plate. He did draw three walks Thursday against Colorado and two more Sunday against San Diego, showing some patience — but patience alone won't cut it on a team looking to maximize production from every spot in the lineup come October.

The Yankees have not been shy about making moves this stretch run, and the decisions around Wells — whether that means a roster shuffle, a platoon arrangement, or simply riding out the slump — will define how they feel about him as a postseason piece.

Around the Diamond

Wells wasn't the only Arizona alum in action this week, though his situation dominated the Wildcat storyline.

Kevin Ginkel continued to work out of the Arizona Diamondbacks bullpen, logging 1.0 inning with three strikeouts against Houston on Sunday and another 1.1 innings against Kansas City on Tuesday. His ERA sits at 3.94 after his Saturday outing versus Texas. Ginkel has been a reliable late-inning option for a D-backs club in its own postseason chase — fitting that a Wildcat is helping keep Tucson's MLB team afloat.

Chase Silseth, pitching for the Rangers, had a rougher week. He allowed three earned runs in just 0.2 innings against Arizona on Saturday, bumping his ERA to 3.44 — still a respectable mark for the season, but a tough individual outing. He had been sharper in a 1.0-inning appearance against Tampa Bay on Sunday, September 6.

The larger Arizona alumni footprint across MLB remains wide — from Jacob Berry and Tony Bullard in Miami to Daniel Susac in San Francisco — but this week belonged to Wells and the uncomfortable spotlight New York has trained on him. How he responds, or whether the Yankees give him the chance to respond at all, is the defining Wildcat question of the stretch run.

The week belonged to Austin Wells — and the Arizona product made sure everyone in Boston knew it.

The Yankees catcher went off against the Red Sox on August 30, crushing two home runs and driving in five in a 16-1 blowout that was as lopsided as the score suggests. Wells did his damage in the decisive eighth inning: he led off with a solo shot off Jovani Moran, then turned around a 49.8 mph slider from infielder Andruw Monasterio — pressed into pitching duty in garbage time — for a three-run bomb. Will Warren handled the pitching side, fanning seven over seven innings of one-run ball, but the catcher from Tucson was the story of the night.

That performance didn't come out of nowhere. Wells has posted an .814 OPS over his last 43 games in the second half, a number that stands in sharp relief against a rough start to his season. The Yankees organization stuck with him through the struggle, and by early September, that loyalty was looking prescient — the New York Times framed it in exactly those terms. Teammate Cody Bellinger also weighed in publicly, adding to the organizational chorus of support for a player who has clearly turned a corner.

The Red Sox series generated some noise off the field too: Boston radio broadcaster Will Flemming drew criticism and later apologized for comments about Wells and Jazz Chisholm Jr. that, per The Sporting News, "crossed a line." The controversy only added to the week's Wells-centric narrative.

Wells carried some of that momentum into the Angels series, going 2-for-something with two RBI in a 1-1 contest on September 3 before the Yankees took the finale 6-3. His batting average settled around .188 by week's end — a modest surface number that undersells the offensive value his OPS reflects — as New York dropped their series opener to San Diego on September 5.

Kevin Ginkel Contributes to D-backs Bullpen Gem

Over in the desert, Arizona alum Kevin Ginkel was part of a historic night for the Diamondbacks on September 2. Arizona's bullpen combined seven pitchers to shut out the Phillies on just three hits and two walks — the most pitchers ever used in a nine-inning shutout win in franchise history. Ginkel worked a clean inning with a strikeout as part of that collective effort, a small but meaningful contribution to a landmark performance. He followed it up with outings against the Giants and Astros to close the week, his ERA sitting at 4.14 through the period.

Jackson Kent Takes on the Dodgers

Nationals lefty Jackson Kent, another Wildcat on a big-league roster, drew a tough assignment on September 4: a start at Dodger Stadium against Blake Snell and company. Kent went five innings, striking out four but allowing three earned runs in what shaped up to be a losing effort against one of baseball's best clubs. His ERA stood at 5.55 on the year — the kind of number a young pitcher filing experience in a rebuilding situation learns to live with. The reps are the point.

It was a week where Wells did the heavy lifting for the Wildcat alumni corps — but the supporting cast showed up too.

Jackson Kent Turns a Corner in D.C.

Jackson Kent had been searching for a breakthrough. On Friday night against Miami, the Arizona alum found it.

The Nationals lefty was the story of Washington's 9-2 rout of the Marlins, spinning seven innings of one-run ball on just three hits. Kent struck out three and commanded the zone with the kind of consistency that had eluded him earlier in the season — his ERA dropped from 8.03 to 5.59 in a single outing. Command, a sharp curveball, and what Yahoo Sports called "moxie" were the defining factors in the best start of his young MLB career.

The performance was a sharp about-face from Kent's previous appearance against this same Marlins club on Aug. 23, when he lasted just 4.2 innings and surrendered three earned runs. The rematch was his — emphatically. Brady House's 474-foot three-run blast provided plenty of cushion, but Kent's arm was the real headline.

Wells Stays Productive in the Bronx

Austin Wells had a quietly solid week behind the plate for the Yankees. The Arizona catcher went 1-for-the-day on Saturday against the Red Sox with an RBI and a run scored, nudging his average to .179. Wells also contributed a pair of hits and a walk on Wednesday against Houston, briefly climbing as high as .182 on the season. The 23-year-old continues to hold down the starting catcher role in New York despite a batting average that leaves room for growth.

Mixed Bag for the Pitchers

Kevin Ginkel's week illustrated the boom-or-bust nature of late-inning relief work. The Arizona righty opened the period on a high note Aug. 23 — working a clean inning with three strikeouts for the Diamondbacks against Cincinnati to nudge his ERA down to 3.76. But Friday against San Francisco was a different story: Ginkel lasted just one out and surrendered four earned runs as his ERA ballooned back to 4.39 in a 6-1 loss to the Giants.

Chase Silseth, operating out of the Rangers' bullpen, made three appearances during the week. The stints were brief — 0.1, 1.0, and 0.2 innings — and yielded a run apiece, though his ERA remains a respectable 2.96. He's been used in short, high-leverage spots all season.

Bottom Line

Kent's coming-out party is the clear headline for Arizona's MLB contingent this week. If the command improvements that unlocked seven dominant innings against Miami are real and repeatable, the Nationals may have found something in their young lefty. The rest of the Wildcats' scattered roster kept busy across the league, but none had a moment as defining as Kent's Friday night in Washington.