There’s no doubt that Yankees second baseman has what it takes to play in the spotlight in New York. In his first two seasons in the Bronx, he hit 62 home runs, 167 RBIs, and had a 125 OPS+.
Since then, his reputation has suffered significantly. His latest gaffe came on Friday, when he failed to hustle out a deep flyball, resulting in a long single instead of an easy double. This resulted in his being benched the next inning.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone bears some of the blame for Gleyber Torres’ poor performance, WFAN host Brandon Tierney claimed on Monday.
“The Yankees have simply enabled him. There were never any ramifications,” Tierney told Audacy. “I would have pulled him off the field years ago, and I would not have played him the following day. That is certainly a big ‘X’ in the Boone column.
“Gleyber Torres was young, ascending, and impressionable. If they had drilled him differently…”It’s possible his number was retired. He was a masher at second base. They simply let him mess around, play around, without locking him in and imposing any penalties. “That’s on the Yankees.”
Torres has sparked outrage among Yankees supporters this season alone. Some teammates have had enough of him, including Marcus Stroman, who was filmed yelling at Torres for failing to turn a routine double play last month.
As a result, Yankees captain Aaron Judge had to urge Stroman not to show up his teammates. Torres has continued to slash since then.291/.353/.427, with eight extra-base hits and 11 RBIs.
Torres apologized for his failed hustle play on Friday, saying he understood why Boone benched him afterward. However, it may be too late for the 27-year-old infielder from New York.
Torres is poised to become a free agent at the end of the season, and the consensus appears to be that he will be playing elsewhere in 2025.
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