Was Aaron Boone’s first attempt at picking a leadoff hitter the right answer?
Because in the past week, Gleyber Torres has made a case that he is back where the Yankees most need him.
The second baseman opened the season batting first, a highly pressurized spot ahead of Juan Soto and Aaron Judge, and struggled.
He hit .200 with a .521 OPS in his first dozen games, and for game 13 he was in the middle of the order and a hot Anthony Volpe had risen.
But Volpe stalled.
As did Ben Rice and Alex Verdugo.
Beginning Aug. 16 in a win over Detroit, Boone bumped Torres back to the top of the order, and the latest leadoff solution has produced results.
Gleyber Torres of the New York Yankees hits a single during the first inning against the Guardians on Aug. 21, 2024.
Torres entered Friday having posted a .429 on-base percentage in six games since his leap back to the front of the order.
He was 6-for-22 (.273) with six walks and four strikeouts and fighting through lengthy battles even in plate appearances that didn’t end well.
During Thursday’s win over the Guardians, Torres singled to left; struck out swinging on the sixth-pitch of an at-bat; walked during a 10-pitch dogfight; walked in eight pitches; and struck out.
In five plate appearances, the No. 1 hitter saw 31 pitches.
His manager did not think Torres had tweaked his approach since the lineup switch, but Boone was happy he was continuing a promising stretch.
“I think he’s just a really good hitter that’s kind of had some struggles this year,” Boone said of Torres, who entered play with an overall .663 OPS that was damaged by a poor first six weeks of the season. “For the better part of over a month, more consistent at-bats.
“I think all year he’s done a good job with the strike zone, even when he’s had some struggles. A lot of long at-bats — he’s continuing to do that.”
Gleyber Torres waving after he was left on base at the end of the sixth inning on Aug. 22, 2024.
Torres said he does not feel any more pressure when batting in front of maybe the two best hitters in the game.
Pitchers likely pitch him a bit differently when Soto and Judge are up next, and Torres said he may be seeing a few more fastballs than usual.
But he believes the general upswing in his results has come from continued work on his swing rather than his batting order position.
“The last, I guess, couple weeks, I feel I’ve gotten better,” Torres, who had reached base in each of his past 17 games during a span in which he was batting .277, said before the Yankees opened a series with the Rockies in The Bronx. “Just trying to put 100% into every at-bat and … try to pass the baton to the other guys behind me.”
The 27-year-old second baseman is set to become a free agent at season’s end and has made it clear he wants to return to the Yankees, which is in doubt when so much money is expected to be devoted to retaining Soto.
Torres’ walk year statistically has been his worst one and has included a benching after he did not hustle on a ball he believed to be a home run but ended up a single.
Gleyber Torres hits an RBI single during the first inning when the New York Yankees played the Texas Rangers on August 10, 2024 at Yankee Stadium.
A late-season surge from Torres could mean a lot for him and would mean a lot for a team that has flipped over plenty of rocks in search of a reliable leadoff hitter.
“He’s an important part of this,” Boone said of Torres, who entered play 11th in MLB among qualified hitters in seeing 4.22 pitches per plate appearance. “He’s one of those guys that really lengthens [the lineup] out when he’s right.
“And it feels like he’s stringing a lot of really good at-bats together now, which is really encouraging.”
