The New York Yankees have continued to support their budding young Gleyber Torres to be their shortstop of the future. That support fell apart last season as he continued to play poorly at the short and behind the plate. Late in the season, they moved him to second base. At the time, the front office said it was permanent. But is Torres really safe at second base?
Last season, Gleyber Torres obviously struggled, both at the plate and with far too many errors at shortstop. Even beyond his issues at the plate, his defense was so bad that near the end of the season the Yankees gave up on him at short and moved him “permanently” to second base, where he will likely start the 2022 season. But him being the permanent second baseman may be a stretch. If he doesn’t improve all-around, he may find himself in a questionable situation that may lead him to the bench.
But that, if it happens, will lead to even more questions, to an already questionable Yankees infield. As the situation stands now, the Yankees haven’t even given hints as to what the infield will look like at the start of the 2022 season. Whenever the lockout does end, there are still several trades or free agent infield options out there that could change the entire complexion of what the infield will look like.
Some of those yet to be determined trades or acquisitions could move Torres to a questionable role, as DJ LeMahieu may return to his natural position. Once the shortstop and the first base situation are resolved, Torres could find himself in a different uniform.
With Yankee fans noting that historically Torres has never been a great defender at second base, and his plate performance significantly declined from his 2019 success and team-leading 38 home runs, his future is not securely cemented.