"He's Earned My Trust" Jose Trevino in Line for Playing Time with Chirinos Injured
ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers' primary plan for catcher might have to be put on hold when the season begins on July 24.
Robinson Chirinos is nursing an ankle injury after a collision at home plate with Scott Heineman in Monday night's intrasquad game at Globe Life Field. While the Rangers aren't too concerned that Chirinos will miss an extended period of time—even manager Chris Woodward said, "We may have dodged a bullet,"—there still remains a chance he won't be active for the opening series of the 2020 season.
That puts the Rangers right back to where they were last November: a tandem of veteran Jeff Mathis and promising young catcher Jose Trevino. While Mathis had his struggles with the bat last year, he is very trusted by the pitching staff. Despite being thought of as the third catcher for the past several months, Trevino has been among the few names in camp that are getting rave reviews from the Rangers manager.
"He’s pushing hard. That’s the thing from a trust standpoint, he’s earned my trust in so many ways," Chris Woodward said. "My biggest thing from a catcher...they’ve got to be able to call the game, build trust and relationships with the pitchers. Jose’s done that. From talking to him last year, he’s got a lot of qualities that Jeff Mathis has."
The competition between Mathis and Trevino for playing time is not as ugly as fans can portray on social media. As a matter of fact, Trevino cites Mathis as a great mentor for helping him make the jump to becoming a major league catcher. He has taught him how to be a professional and how to communicate with the pitchers, even the two-time Cy Young winners.
"There are a lot of things that go on in the clubhouse, on the plane, there are plenty of things that Jeff has taught me. He doesn’t even have to say anything, just by the way he handles his business," Trevino said. "If it’s early work, he’s there. He’s doing it and going at it 100 percent. He’s not going through the motions and that’s something you appreciate as a professional, watching and thinking, this is something I want to model my game after."
Trevino has taken everything he's learned from Mathis, along with his own defensive prowess, and become a trustworthy battery mate for the Rangers' rotation. One of Mathis' calling cards is his ability to work with the pitchers. If Trevino can do the same, it gives the Rangers another strong option to compliment the backbone and strength of the team.
"I think he's learned pretty quickly what I like to throw. If I do shake, I feel like he has an idea of where I want to go. We're more on the same page now," Mike Minor said of Trevino. "It goes without saying he's a good defensive catcher with throwing and blocking and all of that. I think he's going to be a big contributor this year."
"I think he's got a hunger to learn," Corey Kluber said. "He wants to get better. And that's not always the norm. Guys get to the big leagues and they can get complacent with their defense. He asks questions. If he's doing something different, he wants to know if you liked it. He wants to know what he can do to get better. That give and take is important."
Truth be told, Trevino doesn't have nearly as much to prove with his glove as he does with his bat. After a strong performance down the stretch last season, he has worked diligently with the Rangers hitting coaches throughout the offseason, Spring Training, the shutdown, and here in camp to work out some kinks in his swing to help him be more consistent at the plate. Among the changes included a pretty significant alteration of his batting stance.
"That's definitely something I was working on," Trevino said. "At first, I had kind of a hitch-y move, a little bit. Just kind of taking that away and getting up to the spot I was trying to get to with my hitch, or my load, just getting the bat there, and from there, getting in the right direction of where I want to hit the ball."
One of the reasons the Rangers wanted to bring Chirinos back to Texas was his two-way ability. Not only is Chirinos a very good backstop, he's also one of the better hitting catchers in the game right now. If Chirinos misses time, it could hurt the Rangers' chances to get off to a hot start, even with a favorable schedule. However, Chris Woodward is very pleased with the strides Trevino has made with the bat—maybe even enough to soften the blow of losing a player like Chirinos.
"To see what I see now—the consistency, the bat path, the swing—there’s a lot more than people think there offensively," Woodward said. "I envision him to be a pretty good offensive catcher. I know he feels that way. He’s a confident kid. To be able to get him some reps maybe, with Robinson out, I really trust Jose, especially with the work he’s put in.”
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