AP; Getty Images
Shortly before he underwent wrist surgery last summer, Jose Trevino had some work to do.
The Yankees catcher was going to miss the rest of the season, and in the immediate future, Kyle Higashioka and Ben Rortvedt were going to split duties behind the plate. But Trevino knew that Austin Wells was likely going to be up from Triple-A before long — it ended up being Sept. 1 — and wanted to give him a head start.
“Just a lot of stuff about our pitchers and staff, so when I came here, I didn’t feel like I was learning 14-15 new pitchers,” Wells said over the weekend. “I felt like I had a good idea about what everyone was trying to do.”
It was a precursor of things to come in the relationship between the veteran and top prospect, who have teamed up this season to become one of the top catching tandems in the majors, with their handling of the pitching staff looming large entering the postseason.