Jose Trevino clears air on Domingo Germán, laughs at Yankees' 'fat boy crew'
The New York Yankees escaped a hostile environment in Toronto with a series win for the ages this week, but they certainly didn't emerge unscathed.
In one fell swoop in the second game of the set, they lost right-hander Domingo Germán because he failed an umpiring crew's sticky hand spot check, then watched key reliever Ian Hamilton succumb to a stiff groin (potentially because he was rushed into action in Germán's stead).
As if thinning the pitching staff out wasn't bad enough, catcher Jose Trevino also hit the IL prior to Thursday's series finale with a hamstring strain. He was replaced on the roster by Ben Rortvedt, who is real.
No word yet on the severity, but no news is good news on that front, especially since Trevi seemed affable in an interview he did with "Foul Territory" midway through the series. Host Scott Braun, along with former MLBers AJ Pierzynski and Erik Kratz, had the Yankees' catcher on for a wide-ranging conversation, but had to touch on the controversy of the day: Germán's hands (as opposed to Judge EyeGate).
Trevino laid plain that the big, dark stain spotted on Germán's pants was very clearly dip removed from his mouth. As for the "worst hands" umpire James Hoye had ever felt? The Yankees' catcher maintains Germán used rosin, but the right-hander obviously was foolish and not quite careful enough.
Jose Trevino was NOT part of the Yankees' "Fat Boy Crew"
Regardless of the substance involved, Germán has still put his Yankees teammates in a bind by being irreplaceably down for 10 days.
If Trevino is to be believed, it sounds like the team is still in his corner, though (and responded with a narrative-quieting win on Thursday to wrap the series).
Things got testy throughout the series in Toronto, but probably never more so than when Jays manager John Schneider and pitching coach Pete Walker started demanding that both Yankees' base coaches get in their respective boxes during the early portion of Game 2. It all escalated to Schneider dismissively yelling, "Shut up, fat boy" at someone in the Yankee dugout (which is interesting, considering how angry fat shaming had made Toronto earlier in the series).
So ... who was "fat boy"? Word on the street is that Schneider was screaming at assistant hitting coach Brad Wilkerson, which is good news for Trevino, who avoided some strays here. If the team is going to make it "a thing," though, he'd at least like to trademark "Fat Boyz Crew." For the merch.
Schneider, as Michael Kay pointed out on the next day's broadcast, "isn't exactly Kate Moss" himself. Perhaps those in glass houses shouldn't throw stones painted with the moral high ground.
The next time these two teams see each other will be late September, which is probably good, considering everyone in Vlad Jr.'s house was weirdly hopped up and hostile in this four-game set. Germán disadvantaged the Yankees, but give this team credit. They fought back, and Trevino's three-hit day on Tuesday was a big part of it.
Get right, Trevi. The Fat Boyz need you back as soon as your 10-day rest expires.