TORONTO — The Yankees have yet another soft-tissue injury, but it has created an opening for another catcher who has usually been the injured one.
Jose Trevino landed on the injured list Thursday with a left hamstring strain that the Yankees believe to be minor, with Ben Rortvedt getting called up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to take his place.
Trevino tweaked his hamstring early in Wednesday’s game while getting out of the batter’s box, manager Aaron Boone said, though he remained in the game until being pinch-run for in the 10th inning of the 3-0 loss.
“We just want it to be something we knock out here,” Boone said. “Obviously we have the off day Monday, he would have been off today. So at best he would have been playing a couple of the next five days. He’s kind of beat up outside of that as well, so kind of hoping this time down, obviously we got the hamstring deal, but hopefully it gives his whole body a little break too.
“Hopefully something that serves him and us well over the long haul.”
Boone was unsure if there were any immediate plans to send Trevino for an MRI, but on Thursday the catcher just received treatment at Rogers Centre.
The earliest that Trevino — who became the third Yankee with a hamstring strain, joining Giancarlo Stanton and Josh Donaldson — can be activated from the IL is May 28, which could be in play at this point.
In the meantime, the Yankees will turn to Kyle Higashioka, who started Thursday’s series finale against the Blue Jays, and Rortvedt to handle the catching load.
It’s likely that Rortvedt will make his Yankees debut either catching Jhony Brito on Saturday or Luis Severino on Sunday.
“This has been a long time coming,” said Rortvedt, 25, who joined the organization as part of the blockbuster Gary Sanchez trade with the Twins before spring training in 2022. “I’ve been through a lot. I’m pretty excited. Worked extremely hard to get to this point and to be back feeling healthy again, so I’m pretty excited.”
After arriving to the Yankees last year, Rortvedt missed all of camp with a strained oblique before undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee to repair a partially torn meniscus last May.
He did get called up briefly in September when Trevino went on the paternity list, but never appeared in a game.
Then, Rortvedt missed the start of this season after undergoing surgery in spring training for a shoulder aneurysm.
The team discovered the issue after Rortvedt experienced circulation issues with his left index finger, which had become discolored.
“It’s definitely a lot better than before surgery,” Rortvedt said. “To be completely honest, my finger’s still kind of lingering, but it’s a lot better.”
Rortvedt said the finger is not impacting him, but that it is “just stinging as a catcher should.”
In 10 games since returning to Triple-A, the left-handed hitting Rortvedt was batting .324 with three home runs and a 1.026 OPS in 10 games.
Boone said the reports he had gotten on Rortvedt — including from vice president of baseball operations Tim Naehring, who has been with SWB recently — were “really good, actually.”
“He’s a really natural catcher,” Boone said. “Really good framer, really good receiver back there, athletic, can really throw. … Obviously with us, he’s missed a lot of time over the last couple seasons, but I think he’s in a pretty good place right now physically and got some traction down there where he’s playing well. Hopefully he can come up here and get more entrenched in our system and with our catchers and pitchers and play a role.”
And when he does make his debut, Rortvedt will be able to prove that he is, in fact, a real person, dispelling the social media phenomenon that he does not exist because of the time he has missed with injuries.
“I know there’s rumblings,” Rortvedt said with a laugh. “I know it’s a joke, it is pretty funny. But yeah, I’m just excited to be here and play ball.”