Gardner said that last autumn he checked in to see how Torres was faring in the Arizona Fall League. This is what he found: Only 19 at the time, Torres was the best player in a league of older prospects. He had a .403/.513/.645 slash line with three home runs, four doubles and 11 runs batted in, and was the youngest batting champ in league history. He was named the most valuable player, an award won by Greg Bird, another young Yankee star in the making, in 2014.

Now in pinstripes for the first time in major league spring training, Torres has not faltered, even against big-league pitching. In 17 games this February and March through Sunday, he was batting .444 with two home runs and five doubles, and he has carried himself like a veteran. His professional demeanor, even more than the numbers, might be the most encouraging thing about Torres, especially for those seeing him up close for the first time over an extended period.

“He’s been fantastic,” Cashman said.

The Yankees’ manager, Joe Girardi, has lauded Torres for astutely sizing up pitches and hitting the ball to all fields, a trait the scouts saw in him years ago in Venezuela.

“The key is not to do too much,” Torres said through an interpreter. “Have a good at-bat and go with it. The results will come.”

Cashman said Torres, who has never played above Class A, still had steps to climb on the development ladder and would start the 2017 season at Class AA Trenton. There, he will play shortstop, his primary position, as well as second base and third.

The Yankees feel Torres, 6 feet 1 inches and 175 pounds, has the tools to play all three of those positions, and if he is successful, as expected, his versatility will provide the team with more options when he gets promoted to the majors, perhaps as early as this summer.

Gary Sanchez, the young Dominican who has already begun to fulfill expectations as a power-hitting catcher on the major league level, said he thought Torres was close. Hearing those words made Torres feel proud, but he claimed he was not getting carried away with what he had done this spring.