Yankees' Jose Trevino feels it's right time to undergo surgery: ‘At this point, I’m not helping anybody’
A day after potentially losing Josh Donaldson for the season, the Yankees have now lost their starting catcher.
The club announced prior to Friday’s game against the Kansas City Royals that Jose Trevino was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right wrist tear.
The backstop will undergo surgery, which will end his 2023 season.
“[Trevino’s] been dealing with it for a while now,” manager Aaron Boone said pregame. “It’s been a tolerance thing for him. He’s had good days, bad days over the past months, more bad days lately … It was just time. He needs to get that fixed… I know how invested he is in this team. But it was getting to a point where we had to go get it taken care of.”
“I’ve been kind of playing with it a little longer, so, unfortunately, it’s come to a point in the season where — I’ve been told it’s pain tolerant but I couldn’t really take it no more,” Trevino told reporters Friday. “I’m not bringing anything to the table.”
Trevino has a torn triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC) ligament, an issue he’s dealt with since spring training and kept him out of the lineup the last two games. While the 30-year-old catcher tried to tough it out, it clearly affected his offensive production.
After hitting .248 with 11 home runs and 43 RBI -- with plenty of clutch hits -- en route to his first career All-Star selection and Gold Glove award last season, Trevino has been inconsistent in 2023.
In 55 games this season, Trevino is hitting just .210 with four home runs and 15 RBI.
“I’m not one for excuses. I was out there playing. I was out there trying to do my job,” Trevino said. “Did it have an impact on me? Yeah, for sure. I felt it. But I was the one who said I’m good to go. … I will say the training staff, the strength coaches did everything we could to get me right every time I was out there on the field.”
Boone concurred when he was asked if the injury affected his production at the plate.
“For the most part he was still competitive and able to get through it, but it definitely had an impact on his offense,” he said.
With Trevino down, the Yankees called up Ben Rortvedt from Triple-A to take his spot to share the playing time with Kyle Higashioka. And with the trade deadline approaching, the Yankees could be in the market for a catcher to try and jumpstart this dormant offense.
But while Trevino was compromised offensively by the injury, his character in the locker room and his rapport with the pitching staff will be missed.
“It’s very frustrating. I want to be out there. I want to play; I love to play. I love to catch, I love to wear the pinstripes,” Trevino told MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch. “There’s nothing more than I want to do than go out there and play, but at this point, I’m not helping anybody.”
