The New York Yankees stumbled upon a spark plug with catcher Jose Treviño, who was acquired from the Texas Rangers in a three-player trade prior to the start of the season.
Treviño has been phenomenal over 39 games this season, hitting .309 with five homers and 18 RBIs. His 35.6% on-base percentage and 13.5% strikeout rate are two great numbers the Yankees have come to rely on at the bottom of their batting order.
Going into the 2022 campaign, the Bombers were committed to Kyle Higashioka as the starter, but that has quickly changed with Treviño’s excellence. To start the month of June, Treviño is hitting .476 with a 52.2% on-base rate, two homers, and six RBIs. He’s struck out just three times over 21 at-bats.
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The Yankees need to be careful with Treviño:
However, manager Aaron Boone is resting Treviño after he sustained a minor back injury that has been bothering him a little.
Trevino is currently dealing with “a little back thing,” Boone said prior to Sunday’s game.
“Came in with it still lingering today,” Boone said. “So with the off day [Monday] ahead of 20 in a row isn’t something I wanted to mess with. He’s available too. Treat it like a normal day where he’s on the bench, so pinch-hitting situations and things like that, he’s good to go. Just something we didn’t want to mess with.”
As Boone mentioned, the Yankees are preparing to play 20 straight games and will desperately need Treviño 100% healthy. Giving Higashioka the start in the final game of a three-game series against Chicago on Sunday was an easy decision, especially after Jose walked off Friday night’s game with a bottom of the 13th inning single.
Defensively this season, Treviño has a 51.9% strike rate, the highest in his career up to this point. Among MLB catchers, Treviño ranks second in strike rate with +3 catcher framing runs. In other words, he’s been phenomenal, and doing everything possible to maintain his health is of the utmost importance.