Ladies and gentlemen, it’s Gleyber Day! He’s the Gleyber of
the month! Ok, on a serious note though, how important is Gleyber Torres going
to be for the New York Yankees here in 2019? Name a position and Gleyber could probably
play it in a pinch. Troy Tulowitzki goes down? Slide Gleyber in at shortstop and
let DJ LeMahieu play second base. DJ goes down? Gleyber back to second. Andujar
goes down or need a day off? Like a good neighbor, Gleyber is there. Hell, I
bet Torres could even play first base if he had to, the kid is just that
talented. Let’s meet possibly the most important and integral part of the
Yankees infield this season, Mr. Gleyber Torres.
Gleyber Torres, 22-years old, is a right-handed infielder
for the New York Yankees with experience at second base, shortstop, and the
third base positions. Gleyber loves to wait on a fastball and drive it out of
the ballpark, but he can also handle his own on breaking pitches as we saw
throughout the 2018 campaign with the Yankees. Standing 6’1” and weighing in at
200 lbs. this young man is the future of the New York Yankees infield and is
under team control through the 2024 season.
Gleyber David Torres Castro was born on December 13, 1996 in
Caracas, Venezuela to parents Eusebio Torres and Ibelise Castro. His parents
were said to be intrigued by the name “Qleyber” and decided to name their son
Gleyber because of its uniqueness. Torres started playing baseball at the age
of four as a center fielder, catcher, pitcher, and eventually as a shortstop.
Gleyber grew up watching games on television and idolized players like Omar
Vizquel. By the age of 14, Gleyber had caught the eye of many MLB scouts
including the Chicago Cubs who ultimately decided to sign Torres as an
International free agent in 2013 for a $1.7 million signing bonus.
Torres made his professional debut in 2014 with the Arizona
Cubs before working his way up to Class A-Advanced ball in 2016, just in time for
the Cubs to trade Gleyber to the New York Yankees along with Adam Warren, Billy
McKinney and Rashad Crawford for closer Aroldis Chapman. Torres was immediately
assigned to the Tampa Yankees and was also assigned to the Arizona Fall League
following the season. Torres won the AFL MVP Award in 2016, becoming the
youngest player to do so, and quickly became the top-rated Yankees prospect
heading into the 2017 season and the fifth best prospect overall according to
Baseball America. Torres was invited to spring training camp in 2017 but was
ultimately assigned to Double-A to begin the season.
Torres was promoted to Triple-A in May of 2017, but a torn
ulnar collateral ligament in his non-throwing left elbow ended his season on June
19. Gleyber underwent Tommy John surgery and finished the 2017 season batting
.287/.383/.480 with seven home runs and 34 RBI for the Trenton Thunder and the
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders combined. Gleyber was invited back to Yankees
spring training camp in 2018 but was ultimately assigned to Triple-A to begin
the year. Gleyber stayed n the minor leagues until April 22 when the Yankees
called him up to make his MLB debut against the Toronto Blue Jays. Gleyber went
0-4 in the contest, but he collected his first hit the next night against the
Minnesota Twins. Torres was selected to the All-Star Game as an American League
reserve in his rookie season, but he did not play in the game. Gleyber also hit
the Yankees 265th home run as a team in 2018, breaking the 1997
Seattle Mariners all-time record for most home runs as a team in a single
season. That home run also marked the 20th home run out of the 9th
spot in the batting order, thus making the Yankees the first team in history to
have at least 20 home runs from every spot in the batting order.
Gleyber finished the season in the American League Division
Series, falling to the Boston Red Sox. Gleyber had an amazing rookie campaign
with the Yankees and finished 3rd overall in the AL Rookie of the
Year Award voting. Gleyber will look to be even better here in 2019 and will
look to lead the Yankees even further into the postseason. Good luck to you,
Gleyber, and much respect and love.