The New York Yankees have had some tough injury luck during spring training, notably at the catcher position. They’ve already seen a number of players go down due to injury, starting with Ben Rortvedt, who was diagnosed with an aneurysm in his shoulder that was affecting his finger. Austin Wells, one of the team’s top prospects, is dealing with a broken rib, and Josh Breaux is fending off an elbow injury.
With Kyle Higashioka featuring with Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, the only starting-level catcher currently with the team is Jose Treviño. Unfortunately, Treviño is the latest catcher to sustain an injury, but the Yanks don’t anticipate it will keep him out beyond Opening Day.
“He’s just got some inflammation in there,” Boone said after Tuesday evening’s game. “It should probably only be a couple more days.”
The official diagnosis is a sprained wrist, which could be problematic considering how catchers utilize their hands. Nonetheless, Treviño has had a solid start to spring training, posting four hits and a homer across 15 at-bats. He’s hitting .267 with a .353 OBP and .820 OPS.
The Yankees don’t have many supplements to replace Jose Treviño in ST:
In his absence, expect to see plenty of prospect Carlos Narvaez, who has played well during spring training despite struggling to climb up the team’s farm system. Nonetheless, the Bombers understand how important Treviño is to their success, and based on Aaron Boone’s comments, he should be back sooner rather than later.
“I’m not too worried about it right now for the season,” Boone said. “So I’m hoping by the weekend, he’s back in there.”
Last season after the Yankees acquired Treviño from the Texas Rangers, he went on to hit .248 with a .283 OBP, 11 homers and 43 RBIs. He earned a career-high 91 wRC+ and 3.7 WAR, showcasing his value as a defensive piece. In fact, Jose logged the best strike rate in the entire league and had some of the best framing numbers among all catchers.
The Yankee can’t afford to lose Treviño at this point in time, so hopefully, he will enjoy a speedy recovery.
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