Yankees prospect Austin Wells locked in at the plate and behind it

Austin Wells heard the seemingly endless chatter and watched the numerous transactions unfold.

Starting pitchers Ken Waldichuk, Hayden Wesneski and Luis Medina — three top-level Yankees prospects — had  been dealt ahead of the Aug. 2 trade deadline.

Yet as the team completed five separate deals, Wells, the organization’s No. 4 prospect according to MLB.com, said his mindset regarding his own future remained steadfast.

“There’s nothing I can do about it,” the 23-year-old catcher told reporters on Thursday. “I didn’t have any anxiety going into that. I was just playing baseball and having fun doing that. There was nothing I could really do about it so there was no reason to stress about it.”

Wells’ recent performance for Double-A Somerset also has been rather stress-free.

The 28th pick in the 2020 MLB Draft by the Yankees, Wells compiled a 15-game hitting streak before going 0-for-1 on Thursday night against Binghamton. He entered Friday’s action hitting .291 with three home runs, eight RBIs and 12 runs scored in 19 games for the Patriots.

“It wasn’t really anything mechanically or anything,” said Wells, a lefthanded hitter. “It was just not getting myself out, swinging at my pitch in my counts and trying to limit the damage I do against myself. I’ve just been able to stay more in my zone and do damage with the pitches in the zone.”

Somerset manager Dan Fiorito raved about Wells’ ability at the plate.

“He’s been rolling,” he said. “Wells is a special bat. When he’s swinging at pitches over the heart of the plate, he’s doing damage with them. That’s something he’s done throughout his career. Power to all fields. You’ve seen the balls he’s hit out to left-centerfield has been really impressive. He’s getting his pitches right now and capitalizing on them.”

Wells has been pleased with the progress he’s made with his pitchers as well.

“I think we’ve had a great rapport,” he said. “Just going back and forth with guys coming in and out. Just having that relationship with them, the adjustments that we’ve made with each other have been solid.”

Fiorito credited Wells for his leadership on a daily basis.

“He’s doing a great job,” he said. “Pitchers love throwing to him. He’s awesome to have back there. I feel like he’s taken on a leadership role throughout the team and in our advanced meetings.

“Just stuff he’s seen from other batters, reading swings, using our pitchers’ strengths and hitters’ weaknesses to come up with a game plan has been great so far. We love having him back there and he works so hard. He’s been awesome to roll out there.”