Yankees standing by Austin Wells at catcher even as Ben Rice rises

Ben Rice continues to hit and prove he can be solid behind the plate defensively.

And Austin Wells is in the midst of another lengthy late-season slump.

But Aaron Boone said Monday that Wells would continue to get the bulk of playing time at catcher.

“I still envision [Wells] getting more of the reps, but we’ll see,’’ Boone said Monday.

If that’s the case, the Yankees are running out of time to figure out how to get Wells going again offensively.

He’s just 11-for-78 with four extra-base hits — and 23 strikeouts — since July 12.

He also started the past three games of the Red Sox series, but outside of a terrific game against Tampa Bay last Wednesday, Wells has been almost invisible with the bat.

This, after Wells had a .795 OPS heading into September a year ago, with the Yankees looking set at catcher for the foreseeable future.

And then Wells crumbled at the plate over the final month of the season, with a .411 OPS in September and .460 in the playoffs.

This year, the downturn started early, with his numbers plunging this month after a mostly inconsistent season.

Wells’ ability to hit home runs is vital, but he hasn’t gotten on base at nearly the same clip as last season.

Only Michael Conforto of the Dodgers has a worse average among 192 hitters with at least 350 plate appearances than Wells’ .207, and his walks have plummeted.

And with the emergence of Rice, who started at catcher Monday versus Washington, it’s fair to wonder how the Yankees would divide time behind the two.

Rice has started 11 games at catcher since July 31 after J.C. Escarra was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

---

---

And Rice has hardly missed a beat with the Yankees this season.

He entered Monday with a .956 OPS since his catching duties increased.

“He’s done a capable enough job behind the plate that we feel good about having him in the rotation there,’’ Boone said of Rice. “There [are] still things he’s going through, there are still growing pains to be had back there, but, overall, he’s done a really good job and obviously his bat has been really consistent all year.”

Boone called the catching situation “kind of fluid” and noted that the current roster situation — due to some injuries — complicates things.

“Everyone factors in that,” Boone said of how that part of the lineup is put together.

With Aaron Judge still limited to DH duties because of a right elbow flexor strain, Giancarlo Stanton has been forced into right field.

And the Yankees still value Rice’s ability to play first base, where he can fill in for Paul Goldschmidt against right-handers.

As they wrestle with getting Anthony Volpe out of his doldrums — the shortstop was held out of the lineup for a second straight game on Monday, but expected to be back Tuesday versus lefty MacKenzie Gore — and holes throughout the bottom of the lineup, the Yankees can’t afford to have Wells be unproductive.

A year ago, a healthy Judge and the presence of Juan Soto made it possible for them to overcome Wells’ disappearance and still reach the World Series.

He’s developed into a better defensive catcher than many had envisioned, as there were doubts from scouts whether the lefty-swinger would even stick behind the plate, and some scouts now wonder if his dedication to working with pitchers has been a detriment to his hitting.

But that seems unlikely to change, since the demands of being a catcher will take precedence over his work as a hitter.