Ronald Torreyes is doing big things on the field for the New York Yankees this season while apparently showing a complete disregard for the laws of physics.
It seems like just yesterday I was a five foot tall, eighty-pound little leaguer standing up at the plate with my coach behind me yelling “Just bring your hands back and throw the bat head at the ball”. That was a pretty difficult task for someone my size whose chicken wing arms could barely even swing the bat to begin with. Simpler times.
Ronald Torreyes, however, is playing baseball for the New York Yankees and he’s apparently now taking that great bit of coaching advice just a little too seriously.
Yeah, that'll get it done. Ronald Torreyes literally throws the bat at the ball. #Yankees pic.twitter.com/XQc5MDuDN5
— Elite Sports NY (@EliteSportsNY) April 21, 2018
Torreyes literally threw the bat head at the ball and was rewarded with a solid single. Not a dribbler he ran out, not a slow roller that ended up just a little too deep into the hole to be playable, a solid loop single to the left fielder. I honestly don’t see a difference between this hit, in which Torreyes isn’t even holding the bat, and his regular singles.
This is just one of the most Toe things we’ve ever seen. Sometimes he needs a boost to give Aaron Judge a high-five, sometimes he needs a clear path for his Toenight Show Gatorade camera, and sometimes he doesn’t even need a bat in his hand to deliver a single.
This guy just does it all out there.
The video just screams “when you’re hot, you’re hot” and Torreyes is hot. In 11 games, he’s slashing at .438/.455/.563 with only three strikeouts. He may not be hitting for power but when you routinely appear on base in the same inning that Judge, Didi Gregorius, Giancarlo Stanton, and Gary Sanchez, it’s safe to say your power production becomes slightly less important.
Torreyes has a fantastic opportunity to become an even bigger contributor on this team. Both second and third base are considered pretty vulnerable right now with Tyler Wade’s slow start on offense and Miguel Andujar’s slow start on defense. Blue-chip prospect Gleyber Torres is getting called up, but there will still be opportunities for Toe to keep up his hot streak.
Maybe it’s getting time to let the little guy see some more action. Short infielders have been doing ok lately, right?