Yankees 2024 Roster Report Cards: Gleyber Torres

What a long, strange trip it's been for Gleyber Torres. He started the season in a horrendous funk that showed no signs of ending until he got benched in late June after a terrible game against the Mets. From that June benching onward, he turned into exactly the kind of hitter that the Yankee offense needed almost immediately — especially upon being reinstated at leadoff in August.

Grade:

.257/.330/.378, 15 HR, 101 OPS+, 104 wRC+, 1.7 fWAR, -4 OAA

Free Agent

It makes the most sense to analyze Torres' 2024 by analyzing his production pre- and post-benching. Before he was benched on June 25th, he was hitting .215/.294/.333 with a .628 OPS, good for a 81 wRC+. He was routinely making errors at second, ultimately leading the league with 18. He didn't hit a home run until May 2nd. He looked absolutely lost with an uninspiring approach at the plate.

After June 26th, however, he finished the season hitting .298/.365/.421 with a .786 OPS and a 126 wRC+. The Yankees had some of the worst production from the leadoff spot in the sport before Gleyber returned to the role in early August, went on a tear, and turned that position into a strength for New York. He was able to cut down on his strikeouts and increase his walks while making good contact in the second half, which is a surefire recipe for success.

Torres was also able to continue this production into the postseason, which is more than some of his teammates can say. He hit .241/.348/.397 with a .744 OPS in the 2024 postseason hitting in the all-important leadoff spot, setting the table ahead of Juan Soto and company. Here he is hitting a clutch double in Game 1 of the World Series, for instance:

And yet, Torres' sloppy play in the bottom of the ninth of that same Game 1 of the World Series will be the lasting image I have of Postseason Gleyber in a Yankee uniform. We've seen this with him his entire career—you need to take the good at-bats where he slaps a ball into the gap in the opposite field with the lackadaisical, absentminded defense.

With that, when looking at his entire season, Torres' 2024 really becomes a mixed bag.

Yes, he became the leadoff hitter the Yankees needed during a crucial part of the season, but he also was sub-replacement level for a large swath of the season. Yes, he improved his plate discipline to the point where he had a measly 21.4-percent chase rate, but he also struck out 20.5 percent of the time while only producing a .708 OPS. That 20.5 percent is a far cry from his 14.6 percent in 2023, as is his .708 OPS in '24 from his .800 OPS in '23. He made pretty much the same amount of decent contact as he did in '23, but only hit 15 homers. By now we know why 2019's career-best 39 homers were a fluke, but before this season it seemed you could always pencil Torres in for 25 home runs and a .750-ish OPS.

Ultimately, I'm happy that Torres finished off strong in his walk year, but the first half was so awful it tainted his entire season. You just can't give more than a perhaps-generous B- for a 101 wRC+ second baseman who plays terrible defense—and a second baseman who makes it clear he is unwilling to move to other positions (understandably so, after his 2021 shortstop debacle). In an infield that included Anthony Rizzo, DJ LeMahieu, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Anthony Volpe, and guys like Ben Rice for stretches at a time, Gleyber was needed for the entire season, not just the second half.

There have been plenty of postmortems on the Yankees' 2024 campaign at this point given their ignominious end to the season. There haven't been many postmortems on the Baby Bombers Era yet, though. I think this offseason, with Gleyber Torres' likely departure in wake of no qualifying offer , marks the definitive end of an era that began in 2015 that saw a crop of young Yankee stars raise the expectations and hopes of fans before ultimately disappointing them. Aaron Judge will remain, but he rides alone, save for the even younger players behind him.

As in 2024, you always needed to take the good with the bad when it came to Gleyber in a Yankees uniform. If this is the end, then farewell, friend.