Gleyber Torres has become the Yankees’ on-base machine
NY Post
With October looming, teams will soon have to decide how carefully they tread with Juan Soto and Aaron Judge when the stakes are highest.
Gleyber Torres could help change the equation.
Austin Wells, in the cleanup spot, will have to be the one to make teams pay if they pitch around Soto and Judge, but Torres could play an equally important role as a deterrent from the leadoff spot if he is able to continue getting on base at the same clip he has been of late.
After a brutal first three months of the season, when it seemed like the pressure of a contract-year and early struggles were weighing him down, Torres has become an on-base machine, coinciding with his move back to the top of the Yankees lineup.
“He’s been excellent,” manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday afternoon, with the Yankees on the verge of clinching the AL East. “As much as we talk about a lot of other people, him setting the tone for us with good at-bats over and over at the top has been huge.”
On June 26, when he was on the bench against the Mets for the first day of his two-game “reset,” Torres was batting just .215 with a .294 on-base percentage and .628 OPS through 80 games.
Every one of his 23 catches is preserved in his stat log. The same with his 271 receiving yards and his three touchdowns. His 37 targets reflect that he is not one of the focal points — he is the focal point. The leaps into the air to snare the ball and quick pivots and spins to wriggle past defenders are newly minted memories for fans who went from wait-and-see to here-and-now when it comes to anointing this youngster as legit.