New York Yankees‘ fans witnessed the birth of a franchise player in 2019. Gleyber Torres, one of the prized prospects the team had received from the Chicago Cubs back in 2016, matured right before our eyes.
After all, Gleyber slashed .278/.337/.535 with 38 home runs in 144 games and 604 plate appearances. He had a healthy 125 wRC+ and 3.6 fWAR while playing second base and shortstop.
However, his domination of the Baltimore Orioles’ pitching staff was mind-blowing. Of course, in 2019, several other batters feasted on the lowly O’s, but none of them like Gleyber Torres.
Of his 38 home runs, Torres hit 13 of them against the Orioles in 2019, a number that set a Divisional Era record (since 1969, according to MLB.com) for the most dingers versus a single opponent during the same season.
The Yankees’ infielder feasted on the O’s
And, as it turns out, it all started on this date last year, on April 4th. That day, the Venezuelan infielder went yard two times at Camden Yards, with a solo home run against Alex Cobb in the third frame and then, in the sixth, with a three-run jack off Mike Wright.
During his short career, the now-23 year-old New York Yankees infielder has a .847 OPS and 62 round-trippers in 267 career games. The sky is the limit for Torres, and if he keeps seeing the Orioles’ orange, things will look up. For now, he is focused on proving that he can stick at shortstop for the long-term, defensively speaking. Improvements on his on-base percentage would be welcomed, as well.
After Didi Gregorius’ departure this offseason to the Philadelphia Phillies, Torres is expected to be the Yankees’ starting shortstop for the foreseeable future. Let’s hope that there is a season to play in 2020, as MLB had to halt things because of the coronavirus outbreak in several American major cities and the planet as a whole.