Former Oral Roberts Catcher Makes Waves In MLB For New York Yankees

Yankees starting catcher Jose Trevino has become an overnight success in New York, but his road to the Big Apple took him through Tulsa.

Since the Rangers traded him in April, the former Oral Roberts Golden Eagle has become a leader for the Yankees’ defense and is an all-star, batting near 300 and already setting a new career high for home runs in a season.

News On 6 caught up with Trevino at Yankee Stadium.

“Jogging out here for warmups it's different. The crowd loves baseball, the crowd loves their Yankees and the crowd loves winning here and it’s awesome,” Trevino said. “I credit it to my teammates and the coaching staff they have made this very comfortable for me. A lot of people come to New York and… it’s tough to adapt at first, but these guys have made it real comfortable for me.”

Getting to the MLB All-Star game has not been easy for Trevino.

He went undrafted out of high school and thought about giving up on the game when his father, Joe, passed away after a long illness during Trevino’s junior season at ORU in Tulsa.

Trevino credits those challenges with making him a better player and a better person.

“You know, it's everything you want as a baseball player. You want to win the World Series and at a young age winning is everything,” Trevino said. “When I was at Oral Roberts, winning was everything, so I think I've been instilled with this."

Trevino considers his career the fulfillment of a childhood dream he shared with his father.

“There would be times when driving down the road he always told me I was going to be a Yankee,” Trevino recalled. “I can't believe I'm in Yankee Stadium. It stinks, obviously, that he’s not here with us but I feel like he has a good seat."

Trevino points to his time in Tulsa for setting him on a path to New York.

“When I stepped foot at Oral Roberts, I told them, ‘Hey I'm coming for three years. I want to be prepared. I want to be a Major League Baseball player,’” Trevino remembered. “And they looked me in the eyes and said alright ‘We are going to prepare you and have you where you want to be.’"