Aaron Judge has shouldered the Yankees’ offense for the most part of the season, even when they faltered in August. Gleyber Torres is now ready to fill in when Judge falters giving a big boost to the injury-ridden team that seriously looks to get back its famed offense.
On Sunday in The Bronx, the Yankees beat the Rays 10-4 after the game was delayed by rain. The second baseman hit two home runs. It was Torres’ second 2-hit game in as many games, and it was also the 12th time in his career and the second time this season that he hit more than one home run.
Torres had a bad month in August. He only got 10 hits out of 100 at-bats and drove in five runs. The Venezuelan has had a hard time at the plate for most of the second half of the season. He has already hit three home runs, made eight hits, and driven in seven runs through the first nine games of September. In his last seven games, he has hit .241 and gotten on base .333 of the time.
“I feel like in August, I just missed too many pitches,” said a happy Torres after the victory. He continued, “Of course, every pitcher I face they throw me really good pitches and I missed too many; as a hitter and as a player, you always try to do a little bit more; I got really good people behind me and also my teammates always give me really good at-bats.”
Torres got the Yankees on the board early in the first inning when he went 2-for-4 with four RBIs & one strikeout on Sunday. After Judge hit a single and Giancarlo Stanton walked, the 25-year-old hit Luis Patiño’s second pitch for 391 feet. As Torres crossed home plate, he waved at the crowd and appealed to them to cheer louder.
After a 10-pitch at-bat, he hit a single home run into the stands in the left field, giving the Yankees an 8-1 lead in the bottom of the second inning. This was his second home run of the day.
“With Gleyber, I feel like it’s about him getting into strong positions with his lower half,” an overjoyed Yankees manager Aaron Boone told after the game. He was quoted saying, “I feel like sometimes he gets disconnected but I feel like that was happening to him a lot in August where he’s kind of got that leg kick and gets underneath it; when he gets in that strong hitting position ready to fire, he gets off a lot more ‘A’ swings.”
Boone claimed, “He’s great going the other way, but he needs to get in a strong position on his backside and then let it go; I feel like that has been happening here more often in the past week; he hasn’t had all success either, but I think he’s taking more and more “A” swings.”
The Yankees were without many of their key hitters. A toe injury has ousted DJ LeMahieu. Back spasm and spinal issues continue to bother Anthony Rizzo. Following a wrist surgery, Andrew Benintendi (wrist) is away. The Yankees have desperately needed other players to step up and help score more runs. Judge has shown that he can do everything on his own, but he can’t keep doing that as the regular season comes to a close.
Torres has just stepped at the right time and it has helped make up for the other players who have left.
According to Boone, when Torres is up, he makes the Yankees’ batting order longer and can also be hard to get out though there is a top pitcher on the mound. The manager of the Yankees also said that he hopes Torres can really get going at this important point in the season.
When asked how hard it has been on his mind to deal with his struggles at the plate in the second half, Torres said:
“I can’t lie, it’s just hard because of what the team went through.” “We’ve lost so many games, and things are going downhill. At that time, I don’t do anything for the team. I’ve had many talks with a hitting coach to try to figure out what I’m not doing right. I just try to keep doing the same things I did in the first half.”
Is Gleyber Torres ready to power the Yankees’ offense? How far he can carry? Will he be a late-season or post-season hero?
