How Gleyber Torres has rallied for a last hurrah in pinstripes

Gleyber Torres must be exhausted.

Anyone would be in his shoes. Entering a contract year following six mostly solid seasons in the highest-pressure environment in baseball, the Yankees ' second baseman has largely struggled and gritted his way through 2024. With seemingly every day bringing reminders of the money and opportunity he stands to lose if he can't turn it around, Torres (99 OPS+) has not quite been the version of himself who compiled a 116 OPS+ over the previous two seasons. Consequently, it has become increasingly likely that the Yankees , with whom Torres has said he wishes to stay for life , may instead move on from him once he reaches free agency.

Along the way, he has been frequently criticized, fairly or unfairly, for his hitting, defense, and overall effort. Things reached a memorable low point on August 2nd against Toronto, when Aaron Boone benched him midgame for failing to run out of the box on a long fly ball and ultimately costing the Yankees a run in an ugly loss.

Contrite and accountable after the game, Torres has bounced back from this incident over the following month and a half with his most consistent stretch of the season at the dish. In 39 games and 183 plate appearances following the benching, he is hitting .306/.383/.413 with four home runs, 17 RBI, and 21 walks. He had reached base at least once in all of those games as well before breaking that streak on Wednesday — that sneaky streak is the longest of the entire season for any Yankees hitter.

The majority of his plate appearances over this hot stretch have come from the leadoff spot, as he has finally become the table-setter in front of Juan Soto and Aaron Judge that the Yanks were looking for. It took a long time, but Torres is once again playing an integral role in the team's fortunes down the stretch.

It helps to remember where he stood just a little earlier in the year. At the end of June, Torres' OPS sat in neutral, at .652. His OBP that month was well below .300 as he routinely failed to make an impact or even start rallies for a rapidly spiraling lineup. His poor defense only compounded his issues; even now, after his offensive turnaround, he is still struggling mightily at second base with a -8 Outs Above Average figure that languishes in the bottom four percent of all fielders.

As the trade deadline neared, Torres' name came up in trade rumors , but usually whoever reported those rumors would quickly point out that he presently had very little trade value. It seemed like Torres would simply be another scuffling player on a scuffling team who would play out the string until the Yankees could move on from him. The eventual trade for Jazz Chisholm Jr. seemed like not only a value add for 2024, but also a plan to replace Torres in 2025 . Chisholm, who started his MLB career at second base, figures to make substantially less money than Torres over the following few seasons. That had to be in consideration, especially with the greater context of Juan Soto's free agency and the astounding financial commitment it will require to bring him back to the Bronx.

In the end, maybe that prognosis hasn't changed. Maybe we are in the midst of Gleyber Torres' final regular season month in the pinstripes. But in typical GT fashion, he has rallied past the setbacks to make the decision a much more compelling one. The full reevaluation of his free agency case can come at a later time — for now, it's just nice to see him cruising again.

It is notable that Torres' recent improvements have lacked one important element to his past success: power. His current home run total this year is 14, well shy of the 24 and 25 he hit in 2022 and 2023 respectively. While he went yard twice in the recent weekend tilt with Boston, both were short porch shots — the first was a Yankee Stadium Special and the second would have also been out in Houston, but nowhere else. Of course, they count as homers all the same, but they don't indicate that the power stroke which has eluded Torres all year is suddenly back.

That lack of thump is definitely still concerning, particularly if he can't tap back into it in the future. The good news for him is that he's still only 27 and should not be anywhere close to physical decline. He's also having a better power hitting year than 2021, a true down year in which he hit just nine bombs. The good news for the Yankees is that they don't really need him to hit for power right now. He has been perfectly valuable simply reaching base for Soto and Judge, working long and methodical at-bats (4.28 pitches per PA, highest rate on the team) to make pitchers work even harder. That's a dependable, professional hitter, more of what we've come to expect from Torres over the course of his fruitful Yankee career.

Of course, part of what has allowed him to succeed without his power during this stretch is putting a lot of balls in play. As we've seen with Anthony Volpe, that skill is highly volatile and difficult to depend upon. Torres' BABIP in August was .316, and so far it's an eyewatering .412 in September. If his batted ball luck regresses in the playoffs, the leadoff spot may once again lose its luster. But Torres' exceptional plate discipline, bolstered by an exceptionally low chase rate , helps set his floor higher than the Yankees' previous options.

Gleyber Torres' time in pinstripes has been turbulent. He started his career firing on all cylinders, setting fanbase expectations for him sky-high, perhaps unfairly so. After a disappointing 2021 which threw his future with the team into some uncertainty, he rallied for two extremely solid seasons — not lighting the world on fire, but certainly an above average regular. That set the table for his platform year — this year. Torres started the season in the leadoff spot, but his bat was silent. He slowly slipped down the chain of the lineup, clearly battling some issues with his hitting mechanics.

Nobody wanted to see Torres struggle for so long. Watching him every day, you can tell he cares. He comes in every day, stays on the field, and works tirelessly to improve. This year we have truly seen those efforts bear fruit right when the Yankees have needed it most. He is back in that leadoff spot where his season began, and it finally fits him just right. We don't know what the future holds for Torres — whether it comes in pinstripes or in another team's colors — but in the present we can appreciate his resilience. He's persevered through slumps, trade rumors, and plenty of outside criticism to make this long, tough season a positive in the end.