Is Jose Trevino a good catcher? The short answer is yes, as long as you judge him as a defensive specialist and not an everyday bat.
Over nine big league seasons, Trevino has built his career on soft hands, smart game calling and a rare knack for stealing strikes.
At his peak in 2022, he was the best defensive player in the American League, winning a Gold Glove, a Platinum Glove and an All-Star selection with the New York Yankees.
The rest of the picture is more complicated. His bat has always been below average, his arm grades out as one of the weakest at the position, and his framing numbers have cooled since he turned 32.
In this breakdown, we look at what Jose Trevino does well behind the plate, where he falls short, and how much value he still brings to the Cincinnati Reds heading into 2027.
From Texas to the Bronx to Cincinnati
Trevino was born in Corpus Christi, Texas, and played college baseball at Oral Roberts University.
The Texas Rangers drafted him in the sixth round in 2014, and he spent time at second and third base early in his pro career before settling in as a full-time catcher. He debuted with Texas in 2018 and worked mostly as a backup through 2021.
His career took off in April 2022, when the Yankees acquired him from the Rangers for two pitchers.
Given regular playing time, he became a fan favorite and a defensive star. Injuries limited him in 2023, and by 2024 he had moved into a backup role behind Austin Wells.
In December 2024, New York traded him to Cincinnati for reliever Fernando Cruz and catcher Alex Jackson.
The Reds quickly showed how much they valued him. In March 2025, before he had played a regular-season game for them, they signed him to a deal worth $14.925 million that covers 2025 through 2027, with a club option for 2028.
Since then, he has served as the No. 2 catcher behind Tyler Stephenson while helping guide a young Reds pitching staff.
Pitch Framing: Trevino’s Calling Card
Pitch framing is the main reason Jose Trevino is considered a good catcher. Framing is the skill of receiving borderline pitches so they are more likely to be called strikes, and few catchers have done it better over the past five years.
In 2022, Trevino was the top framer in the majors, getting called strikes on about 54 percent of borderline pitches.
He also led all catchers with 21 Defensive Runs Saved. That season made him the first American League catcher ever to win the Platinum Glove, the award for the best overall defender in the league.
He stayed elite even in a part-time role. In 2024, he ranked among the top five catchers in baseball in framing runs, placing in the 95th percentile in framing and the 88th percentile in blocking.
Here is how his Statcast defensive value has moved over the last six seasons:
| Season | Team | Innings at C | Framing runs | Blocking runs | Throwing runs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Reds | 369 | +2 | +1 | +1 |
| 2025 | Reds | 723 | +2 | -1 | -1 |
| 2024 | Yankees | 544 | +11 | +2 | -3 |
| 2023 | Yankees | 427 | +7 | +1 | 0 |
| 2022 | Yankees | 820 | +19 | +4 | +1 |
| 2021 | Rangers | 713 | +13 | +2 | -2 |
The trend is clear. Trevino was an elite framer from 2021 to 2024, but that edge has shrunk in Cincinnati. The arrival of MLB’s automated ball-strike (ABS) challenge system in 2026 adds another wrinkle.
Umpires still call nearly every pitch, so framing still matters, but teams can now overturn a few missed calls per game. That trims some of the advantage great receivers used to enjoy.
Game Calling, Blocking and Working With Pitchers
Catching is about more than numbers on a leaderboard, and this is where Trevino’s reputation really shines.
When the Reds traded for him, the club pointed to his strong standing with pitchers and his ability to help an entire staff, not just the starter on a given night. That is a big reason Cincinnati paid him more like a co-starter than a typical backup.
The Reds have leaned heavily on young arms in recent seasons, and Trevino’s job has been to guide them through game plans, pitch sequencing and tough innings. Even as his playing time has dipped, he is still viewed as a veteran leader for that group.
His blocking has also been a quiet strength. For most of his career, he has graded above average at keeping balls in the dirt in front of him.
That lets pitchers bury breaking balls in two-strike counts without worrying about a wild pitch. Statcast credits him with +9 blocking runs for his career, and after a small dip in 2025, he was back above zero in 2026.
He is also a true team player. Trevino has taken the mound in 11 lopsided games over his career, seven of them in 2026, saving innings for a tired bullpen.
Throwing Arm and Controlling the Running Game
If framing is Trevino’s best tool, his arm is his weakest. Since MLB added bigger bases and limits on pickoff attempts, catchers who cannot slow down runners give away more value than they used to.
In 2024, only Yasmani Grandal had a slower average pop time on throws to second base than Trevino’s 2.07 seconds. Runners have noticed.
Opponents stole 62 bases against him in 2025 while he threw out 19, a caught-stealing rate of about 23 percent.
The pattern held in 2026, with 36 steals allowed and 11 runners caught in limited time. Across his career, he has allowed 267 stolen bases and caught 81.
Statcast’s throwing metric, which also accounts for the pitcher and the runner, is a bit kinder. Trevino sits at -6 throwing runs for his career. His arm does cost his team some runs, but nowhere near as many as his receiving has saved.
Offense: The Biggest Weakness in His Game
Trevino’s bat is the main reason he has spent most of his career as a backup. He is a career .235 hitter with a .270 on-base percentage and a .358 slugging percentage. His career wRC+ of 71 means he has been about 29 percent worse than a league-average hitter.
His best offensive year came in 2022, when he hit .248 with a career-high 11 home runs. In Cincinnati, the production has slipped. He hit .238 with four homers and a 69 wRC+ in 94 games in 2025, then faded badly after the All-Star break, batting just .174 in the second half.
The 2026 season was a mixed bag. He had a hot stretch in July, including a three-run homer against Milwaukee and a two-homer game against Colorado. But he finished at .217 with five home runs in 52 games and drew only one walk in 156 plate appearances. Back and hamstring injuries also cost him time on the injured list.
To his credit, Trevino makes contact and strikes out less than most catchers. Without walks or much power, though, his bat will never carry him.
Final Verdict: Is Jose Trevino a Good Catcher?
Yes, Jose Trevino is a good catcher, but he is a specific kind of good catcher. He is a glove-first backup with an elite framing history, reliable blocking, and a reputation as one of the better pitching-staff leaders at the position.
He is not a reliable everyday starter, mainly because his bat is well below average and his arm makes him easy to run on.
His career numbers tell the story. FanGraphs credits him with 7.8 WAR across 546 games, nearly all of it earned with his glove, and his 2022 season alone was worth 3.8 WAR. For a backup catcher, that kind of defensive floor is valuable.
The concerns are age and trend. Trevino turns 34 in November, his framing edge has narrowed since 2024, and the ABS challenge system may shave a little more off the value of great receivers. Still, at $5.25 million a year through 2027, he remains a sensible fit for a Reds team that wants a steady, trusted voice behind the plate.
