New York Yankees: Why there is hope for a rebound season from Gleyber Torres

While some of his teammates on the New York Yankees’ roster had incredible offensive performances, Gleyber Torres’ 2020 season was marred by leg injuries and a complete lack of power, evidenced by his career-low .125 isolated power.

Overall, last campaign was disappointing for Torres. The New York Yankees’ shortstop hit .243/.356/.368 with a .326 wOBA and a 106 wRC+. He was limited by lower-body muscle-related injuries, as he played in only 42 games.

In 160 plate appearances, Torres hit only three home runs, far from the 38 he bopped in 2019, in 604 PA. His defensive performance was also atrocious, with -9 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) and -4 Outs Above Average (OAA.)

The good thing is that Gleyber appeared to be regaining his rhythm in the postseason. He slashed .714/.800/1.143 with a homer in a couple of games against Cleveland in the Wild Card Series, and .313/.450/.500 with another dinger in five contests against the Tampa Bay Rays in the Division Series.

The Yankees are banking on a return to form

The Yankees know that, with health and a larger sample size, the Gleyber Torres of 2019 can return. It could potentially be an improved version, too, as Torres made gains in the plate discipline department (13.8 BB%, 17.5 K% in 2020 compared to a 7.9 BB% and a 21.4 K% in 2019.)

He has been training with first baseman Carlos Santana and Seattle Mariners uber-prospect Julio Rodriguez for quite some time now. He seems determined to leave his pedestrian 2020 numbers behind, both on offense.

He will have to improve on offense and on defense, but the Yankees are confident that Gleyber Torres can turn things around.

Amid rumors that the Yankees were going to bring a better defensive shortstop that would force Torres to slide to second base, they ultimately decided to re-sign DJ LeMahieu and leave the infield as it is, with Gio Urshela and Luke Voit handling the corners.