The New York Yankees are rotating top prospect Gleyber Torres through three different positions, something that could accelerate his MLB ETA.
It looks like New York Yankees top prospect Gleyber Torres won’t be seeing time exclusively at shortstop to start the regular season, and it could expedite his path to the majors.According to Trenton Thunder beat writer Matt Kardos, Thunder manager Bobby Mitchell announced that the 20-year-old will play three games at shortstop, two at third base and two at second base before an off-day as part of an eight-day rotation.
Torres is coming off a camp in which he slashed .448/.469/.931 with six doubles, two home runs and nine RBI’s in 19 games en route to winning the James P. Dawson Award — rewarded to the most “outstanding” rookie in Yankees camp.
Acquired from the Chicago Cubs in exchange for closer Aroldis Chapman in Jule of 2016, Torres become the youngest MVP in the history of the Arizona Fall League last fall and even had a case to take over for the injured Didi Gregorius on Opening Day.
Of course, that didn’t happen as the organization wanted him to gain experience against higher-level pitching since he’s never played a game above High-A ball. But, general manager Brian Cashman did say that Torres could have a major league impact at some point this season depending on his performance throughout the regular season.
It’s clear that New York envisions Didi as the future shortstop, but that doesn’t form a blockade for Torres, as he profiles well offensively and defensively at either second or third base, according to MLB Pipeline.
Unlike Didi, it’s evident that third baseman Chase Headley and second baseman Starlin Castro aren’t recognized long-term options. I say evidently because, well, both of their names were thrown around in trade discussions this past offseason.
If Torres continues to do exactly what he’s done since being acquired — which is tear the cover off the ball and win awards everywhere he goes — there is a high likelihood that you’ll hear his name called in the Bronx at some point in 2017 and it can happen in various ways.
Gregorius is slated to return in mid-May but if he were to suffer a setback and Torres carries his spring numbers into the regular season, he very well may join Xander Bogaerts and Carlos Correa as the three most recent high-end shortstop prospects to make the jump from Double-A to the majors in their age 20 seasons.
Or, if Headley struggles down the stretch, Cashman could bring actions to those trade talks that occurred throughout the winter. Castro could then slide to third or Torres, who will see some time at both positions, can do the same.
There are honestly plenty of options the Yankees could pursue here and making their top prospect able to handle two new positions this early in his career could make his big league promotion come sooner than later — if he continues to make strides with the bat.
Good point, Christian. Many years ago, wasn't there a young kid (19 years old) who impressed so much in spring training with 9 homers (some of which have not yet landed), that he was taken north with the team? He had a fairly successful career. I can't think of his name. The year was 1951.