At an important juncture in the regular season, the New York Yankees are having too many babies. Recently, third baseman Josh Donaldson hit the paternity list, and outfielder Aaron Hicks also spent a few days on the list.
The latest player to have a baby bomber is catcher José Treviño, occurring at an inopportune time with the Yankees holding a 4.5 game in the AL East. Nonetheless, he deserves a congratulations and a warm welcome, and in the meantime, the Yankees will have to supplement.
However, replacing Treviño is no easy feat, especially since he’s earned a .254 average this season with a 29% on-base rate, 10 homers, and 37 RBIs. However, he’s one of the best defensive catchers in all of baseball, featuring an impressive 54% strike rate and 14 catcher framing runs. The second-place catcher in the strike rate category is 1.9% worse than Treviño, which is a significant margin.
The Yankees will start Kyle Higashioka in his place, but they also recalled Ben Rortvedt from Triple-A Scranton. Rortvedt was acquired in the Minnesota Twins trade, which also brought Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Donaldson to New York. He’s been working his way from a number of injuries, spending 31 games with Scranton before being pulled up.
During that sample size, Rortvedt posted a .211 average with a 29.6% on-base rate, four homers, and 17 RBIs. Offensively, I wouldn’t expect him to offer much at the major league level, having spent just 39 games with Minnesota last year, struggling significantly in the batter’s box.
However, with injuries plaguing the roster, the Yankees will take what I can get.