Gleyber Snubbed Again
Gleyber Torres started playing baseball at the age of 4 in Caracas, Venezuela, and at 14 left home to live at a baseball academy that had major league contacts. He was signed as an international free agent in 2013 by the Chicago Cubs for $1.7 million dollars. He immediately started producing.
On July 15th, 2016, Gleyber was traded to the New York Yankees as part of a package to acquire Aroldis Chapman, who re-signed with the Bombers right after leading the Cubs to a World Series Championship.
At the age of 19, Torres was both the youngest player in the Arizona Fall League, and the youngest player in league history to win the AFL MVP.
At 20, Torres was the team’s fifth ranked prospect in 2017, and despite hitting .448 with 2 HRs in Spring Training, he began the year at Double A, and shortly after a promotion to AAA, was injured on a head first slide into home that ended his season.
The 2018 season saw him rated as the best shortstop prospect in baseball, but he started the season at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. After a rough start by the Yankees, Gleyber earned a call up on April 22nd, going 0–4 in his debut. He recorded his first hit the next day, and his first home run on May 4th. At 21, he was the youngest Yankee to homer since John Ellis in 1969. After batting .294 with 15 home runs and 42 RBIs, Torres was selected to the All Star team, but he did not play in the game. He was third in the rookie of the year voting after finishing the 2018 season at .271 24 HR 77 RBI.
The 2019 season has been more of the same. The 22 year old recently became the youngest Yankee since Mickey Mantle to record 200 hits for the Yankees. He had the third best On Base Percentage in a calendar month Age 22 or younger in Yankee history in the month of June. Gleyber has already hit 10 home runs against the Baltimore Orioles, and while some have suggested Torres’ numbers are padded because of the early season success he enjoyed against the O’s, that just isn’t accurate. The Yankees haven’t played Baltimore since May 23rd. Since May 24th, Torres is hitting .292/.398/.519 for a .917 OPS with 7 HRs and 23 RBI.
Gleyber Torres also recently got the 200th hit of his MLB career. According to Elias Sports Bureau, the 22-year-old Torres is the youngest player since Mickey Mantle to record 200 hits for the Yankees. He’s one of just two Yankees under the age of 23 to have 19 HR and 50+ RBI through the team’s first 84 games, joining Joe DiMaggio in 1937. And while DJ LeMahieu gets all the glory for his clutch hitting, Torres has quietly raked .412 (28–68) with 37 RBI with runners in scoring position.
Gleyber Torres was named to his second straight All Star team as a replacement. He keeps getting snubbed, but he just keeps delivering at a record pace, for the best franchise in baseball history.
