23-Year Old Phenom, Torres, Is Ready for Another All-Star Season

As the 2020 season approaches, Pinstripes Insider will be previewing each position and each team in the American League East. Pinstripes Insider shifts over to the left side of the diamond, previewing two-time All-Star, Gleyber Torres.

A 23-year old shortstop on the same track as Alex Rodriguez at the plate is not a bad replacement for Didi Gregorius. Gregorius left the Yankees after receiving a one year deal from the Philadelphia Phillies. For the Yankees, it now allows Gleyber Torres to slide over to shortstop full time and be the Yankee shortstop of the present and the future.

Torres’ 2019 Season

It was an incredible second season in the big leagues for Gleyber Torres. Like DJ LeMahieu, Torres was one of the few Yankees who stayed healthy throughout the season. In over 140 games and over 600 PA, Torres logged some huge numbers. He hit 38 home runs and drove in 90 runs in 2019. His slash line was an impressive .278/.337/.535 with a wRC+ of 125. That slash line gave Torres an OPS of .871, placing him in the top 20 in the AL in OPS.

Although his walk rate dropped from 8.7 percent in 2018 to 7.9 percent in 2019, Gleyber Torres was able to put together an excellent 2019 season by decreasing his strikeout rate (25.2 percent to 21.4 percent) and maintaining similar batted ball rates from 2018.

Hard% Line Drive% Fly Ball% HR/FB% 2018 38.4% 24.5% 42.7% 17.9% 2019 39.5% 20.9% 41.9% 21.5%

The factor that helped the new Yankee shortstop the most was his ability to swing at pitches inside the strike zone. Even though he was one of the more aggressive hitters in the AL with a swing percentage of 51.8 percent (9th in AL), Torres also ranked 7th in the American League in Z-Swing Percentage at 76.3 percent. Z-Swing Percentage measures the rate at which a batter swings at pitches inside the strike zone. According to Fangraphs, Torres is well above average in that category, finishing over 11 percent above the average Major League hitter.

October Performance

Gleyber Torres’ big sophomore season earned him his second All-Star Game appearance in two seasons. He also finished 17th in AL MVP voting. Torres kept his great season going in October, proving to be one of the Yankees’ most reliable bats throughout the 2019 postseason. In 9 games and 40 plate appearances, Torres hit 3 home runs and drove in 10 runs. He slashed .324/.375/.703, adding up to an excellent OPS of 1.078. For the postseason his wRC+ stood at 177. In a postseason, specifically the ALCS against Houston, where the Yankees struggled offensively, Torres was one of the few bright spots on a team that fell just short of their first World Series appearance since 2009.

Read More: DJ LeMahieu Preview

Making the Move to Shortstop

After playing mostly second base in his rookie season, Gleyber Torres actually played more shortstop than second base in 2019. He played 659 2/3 innings at shortstop, mostly while filling in for Didi Gregorius, as opposed to just 547 1/3 innings at second base in 2019. In just under 1,500 innings at second base at the Major League level, Torres has struggled defensively. He has -8 DRS over that span.

On the other hand, he has 1 DRS in his career at shortstop in over 800 innings played. In addition, according to Statcast, Torres’ strength at shortstop is fielding the ball to his left. He accumulated 2 Outs Above Average (OAA) fielding to his left at shortstop. However, going to his back hand side (-4 OAA) and charging ground balls (-1 OAA) are areas of weakness for Gleyber.

Regardless, becoming the full-time shortstop of the Yankees should benefit Gleyber Torres as he enters the 2020 season.

2020 Predictions

Many of the predictions for Torres, including ZiPS, have Gleyber putting up MONSTER numbers in 2020. By monster numbers, I mean 41 home runs, 115 RBI, and an OPS of .905. Personally, I think Gleyber Torres will have a big year, but just not that big. Like LeMahieu, I think his power numbers will come down a bit from last season. However, not in a way that will leave Yankees fans disappointed with Gleyber in 2020.

Pinstripes Insider Prediction: 139 Games 33 Home Runs 95 RBI .286/.349/.528

Read More: First Base Preview

Thairo Estrada

Battling with Tyler Wade for the utility infielder role, Thairo Estrada will also be a candidate to take one of the final spots on the Yankees’ Opening Day 26-man roster. Last season, Estrada made his Major League debut and played in 35 games while making 69 plate appearances. He hit .250 with an OBP of just .294, but slugged .438 for the Yankees.

Like Wade, the Yankees utilized Thairo Estrada at a variety of different positions. He played mostly shortstop and second base and committed just 1 error in a combined 150 innings at those positions. He also played 14 innings in the corner outfield positions, as the Yankees needed an emergency outfielder with all of their injuries last season. Depending on how Spring Training goes, I am assuming Tyler Wade will beat out Thairo Estrada for the final roster spot on the 26-man roster. But, an injury to any of the Yankee infielders can lead to Estrada seeing time in the Bronx once again.

Read More: Gary Sanchez Preview