BALTIMORE -- Jose Trevino was one of the first players in the clubhouse Sunday morning. The catcher’s first stop was not to the food room or the video room; he wandered over to the corner of the visiting clubhouse in Camden Yards where the pitchers’ lockers were clustered. Just a few were there, but he checked in with Lucas Luetge and then said something to Aroldis Chapman, who had walked in a winning run two nights before, that made the closer smile and chuckle.
“That’s exactly who he is,” Isiah Kiner-Falefa said. " He really cares about his teammates and his pitchers especially. He goes out of his way to get to know them, makes sure they feel comfortable with him and takes care of them (on the field). He cares a lot.”
Trevino was acquired from the Rangers -- where he was teammates with Kiner-Falefa and Joey Gallo -- a few days before the end of spring training. He’s played in five of the Yankees’ first 10 games, three starts, and has already made an impact. Trevino isn’t a power hitter, but he’s contributed offensively to each game in which he’s played. He’s 5-for-10 with a double and two RBI this season, which is a small sample size but he’s been a career .251/.274/.369 hitter in limited playing time over the last five years.
That could mean more playing time for Trevino as the Yankees offense and Kyle Higashioka continue to struggle at the plate. The starting catcher who crushed home runs in spring training is 3-for-25 with a double in eight games this season. Higashioka has been championed by the analytical side of the Yankees’ organization as an excellent defensive catcher with power. He got his chance to be the starting catcher when the Bombers traded offense-first (though struggling at that) catcher Gary Sanchez to the Twins last month.
But, unlike Sanchez, Trevino is also considered an excellent defensive catcher just like Higashioka. Through 10 games, the Yankees pitchers have a 2.81 ERA with Higashioka behind the plate and a 1.88 with Trevino.
Trevino has caught every pitcher on the Yankees staff in a game or bullpen and said he already feels comfortable with them. That seems to be returned.
Take Jameson Taillon, for instance.
The Yankees righthander gave up a two-run homer to Cedric Mullins in the Yankees win on Saturday. Trevino immediately told the press that it was his own fault.
“It shows me that he’s following along really closely with the game. I liked where his head was at on that pitch. We didn’t execute it the way we wanted, but the fact that he was thinking along with that, that was good. I really enjoyed working with him and that was our first time working in a game situation,” Taillon said. “I think he’d caught one of my bullpens so for him to be working with me that closely and that in-tune. That’s solid for the pitcher-catcher relationship.”
To Trevino, that is most important. He skipped hitting meetings when he first arrived to sit in with the pitchers. After the trade went down, Trevino hopped on a plane to join the Yankees in Tampa. He got on the internet as he flew to look at video of Yankees’ pitchers and then also googled where they were from and any relevant news/info about them.
“I like to google where they are from, where they went to college or high school,” Trevino said. “It gives me something to start with, to talk to them about and then I can really start to get to know them.”
The Yankees have quickly gotten to know Trevino, and they like what they have in the catcher.
“He’s really dedicated to the craft of catching and helping the pitcher. I think he views himself as a servant leader behind the plate, like he’s out there to help the pitcher be better at his job, which is great, Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake said. “And I think he’s got a really good skill set. His hands are really quick. He’s really accurate with his glove. He has a good feel for the game. He’s really well prepared. So you put all those things together and he’s got a really good skill set.”
