Gleyber Torres admitted Sunday that waiting for the New York Yankees’ 2020 season had him wound up like a little leaguer during a rain delay.
Coming into Sunday’s game, New York Yankees shortstop Gleyber Torres was the not-so-proud owner of a .000 batting average and a .750 fielding percentage. The 23-year-old star blamed pent up baseball juices for that substandard performance.
“In the first two games of the season, I was too excited, after four months [of not playing],” he told the New York Post’s Ken Davidoff. “I got too much energy. I [woke] up today thinking about putting the ball in play.”
In the Yankees’ first two games, Torres went 0-for-6 with a strikeout and one walk. He also committed a throwing error in Saturday’s loss to the Washington Nationals.
Although Torres added another fielding miscue on Sunday, he had his energy under control at the dish. In a 3-2 victory over the Nats, he was 3-for-4 with a solo homer and an RBI single.
Simplemente, Gleyber Torres. ⚾️? pic.twitter.com/eSZgE9OWrx
— LasMayores (@LasMayores) July 26, 2020
The 2020 season is Torres’s first as the Yankees’ de facto shortstop. He entered the MLB at second base in 2018, filling in on the left side of the infield as necessary.
Then, New York let their shortstop of the previous five years, Didi Gregorius, walk in free agency ahead of the current season. That made it clear that Didi was not Derek Jeter’s replacement after all. Rather, he was a bridge to Torres, who may be the true heir to The Captain.
Just two years and a few games into his young career, Torres already has as many homers (63) as Jeter had at the end of his fourth full campaign.
Torres also possesses leadership skills that could rival his predecessors. CC Sabathia said as much on an episode of his R2C2 podcast, all but nominating Torres to be the next Bombers captain.
If he can continue harnessing his enthusiasm for the game like he did on Sunday, there’s no reason Torres can’t be the next great Yankee.
