Minor League Ball Morning Report: Monday, June 18th, 2018

Good morning everyone and welcome to the Minor League Ball Morning Report for Monday, June 18th, 2018.

****Highlights from yesterday can be found in the Sunday Gameday discussion thread.

****One of my favorite Grade C/C+ prospects is Texas Rangers catcher Jose Trevino, promoted to the majors on June 15th and 2-for-8 so far with three RBI. Trevino is a favorite for purely personal reasons: I saw him play in college for Oral Roberts back in 2014, really liking his athleticism and thinking that he had a chance to surprise with the bat eventually. I liked him enough to make him a Twins Shadow Draft pick.

Trevino has turned out to be a very impressive defensive catcher, extremely reliable with few errors or passed balls, effective against baserunners, and drawing constant praise for his field generalship skills. His makeup is another plus.

The bat, on the other hand, hasn’t developed as much as hoped. He’s never hit particularly well except in the California League and we all know that doesn’t count. The last two seasons he’s hit .241/.275/.323 and .233/.284/.333 in Double-A.

I’m probably just stubborn but I have not given up all hope on the bat. He makes contact readily and while he doesn’t draw many walks, he’s not a swing-from-the-heels guy either and has, on occasion anyway, shown some selectivity. His swing generates line drives and ground balls but there are some occasional flashes of pull power.

I think at 5-11, 210 there’s some physical strength behind the bat. That strength may never manifest into actual frequent game power. But then again, it might. It’s happened before as players get into their late 20s.

Trevino is 25. I think the bat is still worth tracking as he approaches age 27-28. But even if the hitting never develops, his glove will keep him employed for the foreseeable future and he could have a very long career as an MLB backup.

Baseball Census video: