Gleyber Torres' improved play a key to Yankees' strong start

BALTIMORE – Gleyber Torres isn’t having the start to his season offensively that, say, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton are.

But don’t take that to mean the second baseman isn’t having a significant impact on the 26-9 record the Yankees brought into Tuesday night’s game against the Orioles.  

The 25-year-old, who went through a top-to-bottom terrible 2021 season, has rebounded.

Though his offensive numbers aren’t yet at the level of his All-Star seasons in 2018 and 2019, it’s been better than last year.

Torres, who hit .259 with nine homers and a .697 OPS last season, is hitting just .243 this season but with five homers and a .729 OPS this season. And Torres, after striking out 104 times in 459 at-bats in 2021, has been far more selective at the plate in 2022, striking out 18 times in 103 at-bats (entering Tuesday).

But it is defensively that has been the biggest contrast.  

Last Septmber the Yankees decided that Torres, who played primarily at second his first few years, wasn’t cut out at being a big-league shortstop and switched him back to second.

Torres finished the year strongly, both at the plate and in the field, and that has continued into this season.

“He’s home,” one club insider said, meaning second base.

Though Torres came up through the minors as a shortstop – when he was one of the top position prospects in the game – he never appeared completely comfortable there in his time in the majors, especially last season when he committed the vast majority of his team-high 19 errors there.  

“I’ve always liked him better at second,” said one longtime NL scout, who has watched Torres since his early minor league days with the Cubs (who traded Torres to the Yankees in 2016 in exchange for Aroldis Chapman). “I think his physical frame has changed significantly since he was a younger Cubs prospect. The footwork, rhythm, distance, throws, ground ball angles, etc. are a huge factor at shortstop. The defensive game can really affect the offensive side of your game if you get frustrated mentally.”

The scout, a former player, added: “I’m not saying second is the easiest to play, but the left side of the infield, especially up here [the majors], is much more difficult to play.”  

Though Torres isn’t in the same league defensively as his infield mates – Anthony Rizzo at first, Isiah Kiner-Falefa at short and Josh Donaldson at third – rival scouts assigned to the Yankees say he’s been mostly above average to, at times, very good, this season.

It is among the reasons a rival American League manager, speaking by phone last week, said the most dramatic difference he’s seen in the 2022 Yankees from the 2021 edition is a vastly improved defense.  

“Night and day [compared] to the last few years,” the manager said. “It’s been a while since you could say they’re one of the better defensive teams. They are. [Torres] is a part of that.”

And it was Torres who made the play of the night in Monday night’s 6-2 victory over the Orioles. With none out and runners at the corners in the bottom of the first, Anthony Santander flared a broken-bat looper toward right that off the bat looked like a sure hit. Torres, shaded up the middle, came from nowhere to make a diving catch, then quickly fired over to first to double off the runner, Trey Mancini. It saved Luis Severino at least one run and maybe more.

“That was a tough play and that was a big moment in that game right there,” Donaldson said. “I felt like that really shifted the momentum. I’ve seen him really doing a good job of being ready for every pitch and ready to make a play. His at-bats have been great, defensively he’s been great, and that’s what we need.”