Inside The Pinstripes

Aaron Boone Explains Decision to Start Jose Trevino Over Kyle Higashioka in ALDS

Boone walked through the decision to give Trevino the start in Games 1 and 2 of the ALDS even after Higashioka ended the season with a hot streak offensively.

Max Goodman

In this story:

NEW YORK — Yankees catcher Kyle Higashioka did everything he possibly could to earn a spot in New York's starting lineup to begin the playoffs, hitting .354 with a .956 OPS over his final 15 games of the regular season.

Manager Aaron Boone instead elected to pencil All-Star Jose Trevino in behind the plate in each of the first two games of the American League Division Series against the Guardians.

While Higashioka had the hot hand offensively, Trevino was struggling to finish up his breakout campaign. The backstop was batting .177/.203/.258 in the month of September and October, leading up to Game 162 last week.

Regardless of how New York's catchers finished up the regular season, it doesn't sound like Boone deliberated too much when writing Trevino's name into the starting lineup.

"I just think Trevi has emerged as the one," Boone explained before Friday's Game 2 in the Bronx. "Although I still kind of consider him 1A and [Higashioka] 1B. Higgy has played well and swung the bat well down the stretch. We have a lot of confidence when he's back there and he's going to be back there at some point. Just feel like Trevi is the way I wanted to go again today."

Trevino went 0-for-2 in his postseason debut on Tuesday, but he still made a significant impact, driving home the go-ahead run in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly.

His defense has also been an underrated storyline all season long. Trevino led all big-league catchers in defensive runs saved (per FanGraphs) as well as Statcast's framing metric.

MORE:

Follow Max Goodman on Twitter (@MaxTGoodman), be sure to bookmark Inside The Pinstripes and check back daily for news, analysis and more.

Published
Max Goodman
MAX GOODMAN

Max Goodman covers the New York Yankees for Sports Illustrated and FanNation. Goodman has been on the Yankees beat for three seasons. He is also the publisher of Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Jets site, Jets Country. Before starting Inside The Pinstripes, Goodman attended Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Sports Media, graduating in 2019. At school, Goodman was an anchor and reporter with NNN SportsNight and played on the club baseball team. While at Northwestern, Goodman interned with MLB.com as an associate reporter covering the Miami Marlins. He also interned with ESPN, working as an associate reporter on Mike Greenberg's Get Up. Goodman is from New York City. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen. Follow Goodman on Twitter @MaxTGoodman. You can connect with him via email by reaching out at maxgoodmansports@gmail.com.

Home/News