Gleyber Torres’ offensive rebound could help Yankees shift momentum

By Deesha Thosar
FOX Sports MLB Writer

NEW YORK — Gleyber Torres took a few steps to his right, vacuumed a ground ball just behind the second-base bag and fired a strong throw to first base. He got the out, then smiled wide as he tossed the ball around the infield. 

This out could be described as an ordinary part of any baseball game. But the moment was noteworthy, not because of Torres’ sharp play but because of his loose and breezy body language — and the clutch at-bat that followed.

In the sixth inning Wednesday, with the Yankees trailing the Twins 3-1 in game one of a doubleheader in the Bronx, Minnesota made the bold decision to pitch to Aaron Judge. The Yankees had a runner on first and the tying run, which was Judge, at the plate. Pitching to Judge, rather than intentionally walking him, was an odd choice given just how much the rest of the Yankees’ lineup has struggled lately. And Yankees manager Aaron Boone had run out a Triple-A Scranton lineup in game one, complete with first baseman Ronald Guzman batting cleanup in his season debut.

But the Twins neglected to walk Judge at least in part because the slugger’s protection was Torres, which confirmed that at least one Major League Baseball team is still afraid of the damage the second baseman can do. Minnesota right-hander Griffin Jax got Judge to pop out for the second out of the inning, bringing Torres to the plate. Torres fell behind in the count 1-2 before he pounced on Jax’s inside fastball, the perfect tonic to his slump. 

Torres, who recently lost playing time to promising rookie Oswald Peraza, belted a two-run home run to left field to tie the game 3-3. You could see the heavy chains of his offensive slide breaking, the persistent monkey finally letting go and jumping off his back. It was Torres’ 19th home run of the season, though only his third long ball since July 28. That home run has the chance to represent a substantial turning point for the 25-year-old infielder, one that could spark a breakout for this otherwise hard-to-watch Yankees offense.

Something about Torres’ attitude, his carefree spirit, from the jump Wednesday was telling of how his afternoon would go. This was not the Torres of August, who posted a pedestrian slash line of .180/.204/.260 with 33 strikeouts in 100 at-bats. Last month, Torres’ sunken body language reflected the Yankees’ record: 10-18 with a .297 team on-base percentage. And on Wednesday, his shy grin and feel-good spirit were again a microcosm of New York’s success: The Yankees wound up sweeping the doubleheader while showing flashes of their first-half juggernaut nature.

The past couple of months have been an adjustment period for both the Yankees and Torres. The team plunged from a 15.5-game lead in the American League East on July 8 to a mere four-game lead on Sept. 3. Everyone in the offense not named Aaron Judge has failed to overcome injuries to lineup mainstays Giancarlo Stanton, Anthony Rizzo and DJ LeMahieu.

A lot of that recent failure, fairly or not, rests on Torres’ shoulders because he was supposed to be a franchise cornerstone. But he sure wasn’t acting like it. While his peers broke down from injuries, instead of Torres stepping up and lifting the team, his struggles only deepened. Of course, his terrible numbers showed the disappointment — he’s batting .186 with a .543 OPS in 40 games since the All-Star break — but one quick glance at the second baseman and his sullen disposition also showed that this was deep-rooted, and Torres was going through it.

Much like the rest of his Yankees teammates, Torres had a strong first half. His 14 home runs in 81 games were five more dingers than he produced all of last season. His .809 first-half OPS felt like a throwback to his 2018 and ‘19 All-Star years. Torres excelled at the same time as the rest of the lineup was clicking, which helped propel the Yankees to the best record (64-28) in MLB before the break. 

But doing well when the playing landscape is rainbows and fairy dust does not a star make. Judge soon became — and still is — the only offense-related reason the Bombers remain playoff contenders. Torres faltered as the Yankees crumbled to start the second half. Recently, Boone didn’t hold back when assessing the 25-year-old, saying that Torres often looked in-between on pitches and was generally uncertain in the box. Earlier this week against the Rays, Torres was dismissed to collect bench splinters as Peraza started at second base instead.

Those are just some of the reasons that, while the Yankees wrapped up their doubleheader sweep of the Twins on Wednesday, Torres’ game-tying home run in the first game went mostly overlooked.

Yes, his two-run shot in the sixth inning was clutch and exhilarating at a time when the Yankees could use more of the offensive prowess that got them to this point. Yes, his positive attitude is a welcome change that might help him step into his star or, at the very least, lengthen the lineup. But Torres must bring that overpowering plate presence again and again and once more for good measure. Only then can he be counted upon to lift the Yankees out of their less than satisfactory performance and into something resembling their first-half dominance.

Torres was partly to blame for the Yankees’ second-half plummet, but his momentum-shifting, two-run homer Wednesday showed that he can also wholly be the reason the Yankees wrap up the regular season the same powerful way they started it.

Deesha Thosar is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets for the New York Daily News. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.