MINNEAPOLIS — When the Yankees went out and made the trade to get Jose Trevino, everyone talked about him being a solid defensive backup catcher. That is kind of what Yankees hitting coach Dillon Lawson thought too.
But, Trevino had spent the winter determined to be more than just a good receiver. He wanted to be an all-around contributor, not a black hole at the bottom of the lineup. He worked on his swing and the Yankees are finding they got a bonus with him. Trevino’s proven to be a decent hitter.
“To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect coming in outside of the defensive skills,” Lawson said of Trevino’s contributions at the plate. “It’s a great bonus.”
Trevino went into Thursday night’s game, where he is expected to catch Gerrit Cole, hitting .281/.333/.461 with four home runs, 16 RBI and a .794 OPS.
For comparison, Trevino hit his fourth home run in his 86th at-bat of the season. He had five in 285 at-bats all of last season. He’s been a career .250/.280/.379 hitters with 13 total home runs and 71 RBI.
Trevino has been good for the Yankees pitchers, who have a 2.25 ERA and a .561 OPS against with Trevino behind the plate.
The 29-year-old puts his work with the pitchers ahead of himself, but this winter, he wanted to improve his work at the plate.
“I did some things in the offseason with another guy down where I am from and he just kind of likes movement patterns … getting my body to move the right way,” Trevino said. “It was understanding more of my swing and that maybe I don’t need to change my swing. Maybe it’s just that I need to understand my movements better. So that started off in the offseason.”
That work continued into spring training with the Rangers. Trevino used that time to pick other hitters’ brains, including Matt Carpenter, who was on a minor league deal with Texas.
“I worked with him a bit, he’s great to work with,” Trevino said. “Just talking to him about hitting, he has so much knowledge from all his years.”
But things really started to click for Trevino when he was traded to the Yankees. The first month, Lawson and assistant hitting coaches Casey Dykes and Hensley Meulens let Trevino go and do his things. Then they approached him with some ideas.
“They said we think you can be better and this is how. I was like, ‘All right, let’s go’ and I mean, they’ve been awesome. Like there’s the communication has been unreal, between me and them,” Trevino said. “And there’s just a lot of intentional work. There are no wasted reps like everything we’re doing is with the intention to be better.”
So what exactly has Trevino changed technically? He’s not talking about — yet.
“I am getting there, where it’s consistent and I am feeling good,” Trevino said. “But I am just getting there. I want to wait to talk about it until it’s normal for me.”
After having worked with Trevino a bit, Lawson is not surprised by his success or how he is still shy about talking about it.
“I just think that part of him is just, it’s just undeniable. Like there’s always going to be this willingness and ability to find a solution to whatever it is that’s in front of him,” Lawson said. “Whether it’s catching, his game planning and helping the pitcher. He’s good with that. And then from the offensive standpoint, it’s the same kind of process, just a different aim. And I think you don’t get to the big leagues because you lack talent. So he clearly has the talent and it’s aligning that hard work with the talent and the preparation that he puts in, like, the things you’ve clicked.
“And I think I respect that he doesn’t want to get ahead of himself, and he’s not ready to talk about it yet.”
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