Gleyber Torres ‘little league’ home run unmasks Red Sox’s bad baseball

Thursday September 15, 2022

Boston — The Yankee’s second baseman Gleyber Torres hit a little league home run on Wednesday night. A display of bad baseball by the Red Sox comes to Torres’ assistance.

While the Yankees won 7-6, the Red Sox defense had laid bare their flaws to justify their last place in the American League East. It shows why the team struggles even before the home crowd.

When Yankee’s second baseman Torres hit a ball into right field with two outs and runners on first and second in the fifth inning of a scoreless game, what happened next was as painful to watch as it was expected from a feeble defense.

Alex Verdugo, who was in right field, tried to throw home instead of hitting the cutoff man. His throw was completely off target, which made it easy for Aaron Hicks to score. When Connor Wong, who was playing his 14th game of the season, came up the line to cut off the ball, Torres first made a big turn.

Wong didn’t go after Torres or throw to second. Instead, he tried to back pick the Yankee when he was already halfway up the line. He didn’t make the catch with Christian Arroyo, and Verdugo caught it again. This time, the throw-in was intercepted, and Torres rush to a three-run home run for a 3-0 lead.

The fielding and throwing errors justified the little league home run by the Yankee. It was a terrible show of baseball playing by the Red Sox.

Here is a quick list of the biggest errors that Boston players made.

Verdugo’s casual throw to Arroyo with Torres coming home. Did exhaustion play a role? Questions remain for the Red Sox to answer.

Verdugo missed the cutoff man on his first throw after the hit, which let the runners advance and Torres move into second.

Wong threw the ball into the outfield while Torres was halfway to second base, letting the third run come around.

The Red Sox just keep getting into trouble like this. Jarren Duran let the “inside the park grand slam from hell” happen when he gave up on a ball at Fenway Park, where such things have become more usual than ever. Torres has now driven in seven runs in his last two games. On Tuesday night, he drove in the run that won the game in the 10th inning.

Even though this mistake was more honest, it’s still a basic mistake, which is a worrying trend for the Red Sox in 2022.

What do you think about such silly errors by the Red Sox? Will you allow such laxity by the Yankees?