Whether it has been behind the plate or at-bat, Jose Trevino has easily become one of the Yankees’ most clutch players this season.
That has been on display for the better part of the season and he reminded Yankee fans of that over the final week of June. While his offensive output has been a pleasant surprise for the Bombers, his defensive prowess has been his bread and butter and he showed why.
In Tuesday’s win over the Oakland Athletics, he picked off a runner at first and caught another trying to steal second. Both were impressive examples of the defensive ability that Trevino possesses.
“Yeah, he’s had a few huge pickoffs,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said about the cacther, who has started to generate some All-Star talk. “I mean that’s probably three or four now that he’s had. I thought the throw he made on the caught stealing (on Tuesday) was excellent. Just quick and he’s efficient. … It’s another one of those small big things within the game that’s a point of emphasis for us. I feel like caught stealing and pickoffs, it’s a little bit of everyone.
“The pitcher has to cooperate, the catchers obviously have to be efficient, the infielders, but I felt that everyone has done a really good job in that area and Trevy has been one of them.”
Trevino caught six runners stealing this year and his caught stealing percentage of 28.6 is just outside top 10 among major league catchers. He has picked off another three runners so far this season.
But what has been the biggest change for the catcher has been his hitting this season. Trevino was batting .270 after the Yankees finished their seven-game homestand, a career-best, and had an on-base percentage of .321 and a slugging percentage of .771.
All have been career bests.
Part of that could have something to do with Trevino’s more open batting stance at the plate. During his time in Texas, the catcher was showing a more closed stance while at-bat.
“It helps,” Trevino told amNewYork. “Just kind of in the offseason to somewhat in Spring Training, just trying to get comfortable.”
Trevino said that it had been something that he had been thinking of doing and that it was a comfort thing for him. The results have spoken for themselves.
The Yankees acquired him just days before the start of the season knowing that he has a s strong defensive ability, but didn’t foresee the offensive output he’d put up. And in the big moments, he has stepped up.
When it’s come time to bat when the Yankees have had runners in scoring position, Trevino had been batting .317, which was second behind only Aaron Judge. His .529 slugging percentage with runners in scoring position was third on the among Yankee hitters.
“I just try to get up there and have a good at-bat, no matter what,” He said. “I try to prepare every day and if I’m up there with the bases loaded, if I can get a hit great. If I had a good at-bat, great, but my end goal is to have a good at-bat. Like I want to have a good at-bat every single time I step up there and I want to pass the baton to the next guy. I’m not trying to do too much up there.”
Another aspect that has helped Trevino has been the help he’s received from the others inside the clubhouse. During his conversation with amNewYork, the Yankee catcher pointed to a moment when he had a bad at-bat and he turned to Matt Carpenter and Anthony Rizzo for advice.
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They gave him a few pointers that Trevino took with him to his next plate appearance.
“That’s what comes with a team like this,” Trevino said. “You have a bunch of guys that can kind of feed off each other. You can ask them questions, see what they’re thinking in that situation.”
