The Cincinnati Reds began the offseason with a bang as they traded Jonathan India and minor leaguer Joey Wiemer for right-handed pitcher Brady Singer in a cope with the Kansas Metropolis Royals. However then for the subsequent two months there was an entire lot of nothing happening apart from being vaguely talked about in just a few rumors. Weeks after the winter conferences got here to an finish, the Reds entrance workplace appears to have gotten issues going once more. After some minor league signings, the staff introduced late on Friday night time that that they had acquired catcher Jose Trevino from the New York Yankees in trade for right-handed reliever Fernando Cruz and minor league catcher Alex Jackson.
Cincinnati had misplaced mainly their total catching crew from Double-A, Triple-A, and the large leagues outdoors of Tyler Stephenson following the 2024 season resulting from free company. That they had signed Alex Jackson to a minor league deal early within the offseason to provide them some depth in case of damage, however he wasn’t probably seen as Stephenson’s backup. The staff was nonetheless trying to find whoever that may be.
It could seem that Jose Trevino goes to be that man. He has been within the massive leagues in every of the final seven years – debuting with the Texas Rangers again in 2018 with a handful of video games. He joined the New York Yankees in 2022 and made the All-Star staff that season – the one yr during which he performed in additional than 90 video games in his profession.
Redleg Nation’s Jason Linden has talked repeatedly in regards to the state of backup catchers in immediately’s recreation and that good ones don’t actually exist (Jason, sorry if that is poor paraphrasing!). However his important level is that if a man may truly hit and be a catcher, they wouldn’t be a backup within the present period. That describes Jose Trevino fairly effectively.
The 32-year-old has a profession .236/.275/.362 line. He’s hit 32 dwelling runs in 399 video games within the massive leagues. In none of his components of seven seasons has he had an on-base proportion higher than final yr’s .288 mark. You’ll be able to see his profession stats right here.
Behind the plate he’s recognized to be a top quality defender. Regardless of enjoying in simply 74 video games, Fangraphs had his defensive worth as ninth greatest amongst catchers in baseball. Each participant who was within the High 16 performed in additional video games than he did. His caught stealing charge has been in every single place all through his profession. In fact we perceive higher now than ever earlier than that the majority bases are stolen on the pitcher and never the catcher. In 2022 he led the league with a 33.3% caught stealing charge. For his profession his charge is 23.2%.
Whereas Trevino is becoming a member of the Reds, Cincinnati is sending out Fernando Cruz and Alex Jackson. The latter by no means placed on a Reds jersey and was probably headed for Triple-A. However Cruz has been part of the large league bullpen over the past three seasons.
After a robust debut in restricted motion in 2022 the place he posted a 1.23 ERA in 14.2 innings, the final two seasons have been inconsistent. When he’s on, he’s dominant. However too typically he’s not on and you’ll see that by the truth that his ERA was 4.91 and 4.86 within the earlier two seasons. He can rack up strikeouts with the very best of them. His management may be spotty, although.
Cincinnati might want to change him within the bullpen, however they might doubtlessly try this internally. Proper now everyone seems to be wholesome, and that might change, however there are extra beginning pitchers than there are spots within the rotation. If that is still the identical heading into the 2025 season the Reds may transfer one (or extra) of the blokes who don’t win a spot within the rotation over to the bullpen to assist on the market.
