Brings excitement, on the doubles
CLEARWATER — Gleyber Torres took off from second on a wild pitch, and didn’t stop until he slid across the plate.
“I was ready for anything,” Torres said through a translator. “It was a low pitch, it bounced away and I was ready to run.”
The hype surrounding the Yankees’ highly-touted shortstop prospect only continues to grow.
Torres doubled twice and scored twice in his team’s 6-5 exhibition loss to the Phillies on Saturday.
“I feel comfortable,” Torres said. “Before every game, there’s a lot of work and preparation that goes into being ready, but I feel comfortable right now.”
Hitting. Fielding. Even running the bases.
With Torres at second, Miguel Andujar at third and one out in the fifth inning, Phillies righthander Mark Appel bounced a pitch that deflected off of catcher Cameron Rupp’s shin guards. The ball ricocheted all the way out past the Yankees’ dugout on the first-base side, allowing both runners to come around and score.
“It’s good instincts. It’s aggressive baserunning,” Joe Girardi said of Torres, who possesses average speed but a strong baseball IQ. “There are a lot of things that he has to do: he has to get a good secondary, a good jump on his secondary and read the ball, and he did all three. He’s a bright kid who knows how to play the game.”
It looked reminiscent of Derek Jeter in his heyday.
“They’re probably different kind of players in a sense. As far as being able to play in the moment, yes, but they’re different type of players,” Girardi said.
Torres, a 20-year-old shortstop, is ranked as a top-5 prospect by both ESPN.com and MLB.com. He showed why on Saturday, ripping a double down the left-field line in the second and then connecting for a double down the right-field line in the fifth.
Torres batted .403 in the Arizona Fall League en route to becoming its youngest MVP ever. His stock has been on the rise ever since.
“A lot of stuff has been said about me, and it’s nice to hear good things, but you have to stay humble and keep working hard,” he said.
Torres was told by the Yankees he’d be heading to his first big-league spring training at the end of last season. He hasn’t looked out of place whatsoever. In Friday’s opener, he delivered a sacrifice fly, staying within himself to drive home a runner from third.
“I think the best thing that I can accomplish this spring training is experience,” he said. “Being able to mature and learn from the teammates I have, because this is a very unique opportunity.”
Torres, who is expected to start the season at Double-A Trenton, isn’t thinking about reaching the majors in 2017.
“That’s hard to say. I don’t really know. It’s not something that I’m paying attention to,” Torres said. “I just want to enjoy the game and keep working hard.”
If he keeps hitting this way, he’ll definitely give the team something to think about.