Yankees 2B Gleyber Torres will be the first litmus test on winning

The Yankees have champagne wishes and championship dreams. But having them come true will mean taking chances and making tough choices. And that will start with Gleyber Torres.

The New York Yankees have to feel good. They head into the 2018 season with not only a young, dynamic team but also the addition of NL MVP Giancarlo Stanton. And they are likely to add an impact player or two between now and the end of July.

They have the Canyon of Heroes on their minds, and in their sights.

To ride in convertibles in early November, however, will take total commitment. Stanton has already posted videos of his desire borne out physically, while anyone who has seen Gary Sanchez lately can tell at a glance he has become less bulky.

Those are good beginnings.

But once the season starts, the only real commitment that counts is to win every day. Because a season–and a team–is more than just wins and losses –it’s about confidence for the Yankees and fear for the opponents.

And about creating a steamroller attitude in the locker room, and a steamroller performance every night on the field.

What is Past is Prologue

Just ask the 1998 Yankees. By August they were winning games only by stepping on the field. And that means more than easy eighth innings.

It means resting your healthy players in September and sitting the hobbled ones. It’s about setting up the rotation by the middle of that month and being stronger and fresher than any other team in the postseason field.

This from October 2009:

The big man is starting on three days’ rest, but it’s no big deal, at least that’s the way C.C. Sabathia sees his start in Tuesday’s Game 4 of the AL Championship Series. Joe Girardi is not worried about Sabathia, in part because the Yankees “slowed him down” toward the end of the regular season. He pitched 253 innings in 2008, but only 230 this season. “He’s been able to have extra rest and that’s why we feel good about it,” Girardi said. “We wouldn’t ask him to do something that we didn’t think he was capable of or that he (wouldn’t) have a chance to be successful at.”

CC went out and put up eight overpowering innings in a game the Yankees won 10-1.

One is the Loneliest Number

But the Yankees are not the only team thinking it will be the last one standing this year. The ones in Houston and Boston, as well as both those in L.A. to name just a few, share a similar scenario. They don’t have 27 titles between them, so you know they are hungry.

And you know they’re all in.

So, the question before Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner is, are you all-in? Are you willing to do whatever it takes to win the 2018 World Series?

We’ll get a good idea by the end of Spring Training. And that is because the first-mile marker on the drive to lower Manhattan is the promotion of 2B Gleyber Torres.

The Natural

There has been a lot of discussion amongst the fans and other observers on whether or not Torres is ready to play in the majors. Let’s put an end to that right now.

Torres’ talent had him as the number one prospect in baseball for a time, until his injury and lack of playing time in 2017 knocked him all the way to sixth. That’s why C Gary Sanchez said this to Mike Mazzeo of the Daily News last March:

“There have been a lot of expectations from (Gleyber) and he’s been able to show his skills,” Sanchez said through a translator. “I think he’s a five-tool player, a complete player with a lot of talent. He’s been impressive…If he doesn’t start with team now, I guess he’s close.”

This, Too, Shall Pass

But there are concerns. First is the injury to his non-throwing arm; this report from October by Dan Martin and George A. King III, however, should mollify most fans.

The 20-year-old Torres has been out since June, when he suffered a torn UCL in his left elbow while sliding awkwardly into home in a game with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The injury resulted in season-ending surgery. Torres, meanwhile, posted a video on Twitter of him swinging in a batting cage on Wednesday, along with this message: “After long months of recovery, I can finally hit again and that makes me super happy. Now let’s keep working and keep improving.” The Yankees expect him to be ready for spring training.

So his injury is unlikely to be an issue. In addition, rather than a hindrance in 2018, the Yankees will probably benefit from Torres taking a year off as he should be even more strong and spry.

That, however, is the first possible impediment, not the last.

A Shift in Positions

Another concern in Yankees’ land is that Gleyber is moving from short to second. Will he be able to handle it?

This, however, seems like the least likely barrier to success. In a game full of shifts and defensive replacements, Gleyber has fielded many balls at second in the last two full seasons he played.

And the Yankees have been planning for this. Torres split his time between second and short in the Arizona Fall League in 2016 and was good enough at both to bring home the MVP. That planning continued last season as Torres played ten of his 53 games at the position last year, five at Triple-A.

There he posted a pedestrian .938 Fielding Percentage (FP). Had he done so for the Yankees, he would have tied Minnesota Twins’ Ehire Adrianza for 149th, and he only started three games at second.

A Slightly Better Known Player

But life is about perspective; consider Brian Dozier. The Twins primary second baseman last year (151 starts) led all MLB players at the position with a .993. But it wasn’t always like that.

He, too, posted a .938 FP at Triple-A Rochester in 2012, at second. But he only played four games at the position that year, spending the rest of his time at short; that included his 84 games with the Twins.

By the start of the next season, though, the Twins had seen enough to move him to second; he posted a .992.

Of course, there are many differences between the two players. But the main one is age. Brian was 25 when he posted his .938 FP at Triple-A; Gleyber was 20.

Torres will have to show that his defense at the position has improved, but as long as he is somewhere in the middle of the statistical pack by the end of training camp, the Yankees will likely let him finish his development with MLB coaching.

Some observers, though, see a much bigger problem.

Second to a Yankee

Another big hurdle, at least as viewed by outside observers, is that Gleyber has played only 55 games above High-A. And just 23 of those at Triple-A Scranton Wilkes/Barre. However, a look at the Red Sox LF and former number one prospect Andrew Benintendi should allay most fears.

Bennie was promoted to the Red Sox late in 2016, after playing only 63 games above High-A and none at Triple-A. His final slash at the MLB level that year was .295/.359/.476.

He did slightly worse over the course of his full 2017 season (.271/.352/.424), but that was still good enough to come in a clear second in the Rookie of the Year voting; I can’t remember who won.

And here is some additional insight from our sister Red Sox site, Over the Monster:

Andrew Benintendi did win a runaway contest for runner-up in the American League. He received 23 of 30 second-place votes along with six third-place votes. He didn’t light the world on fire and we did see some struggles from the former number seven overall pick, but he stayed near the top of Boston’ lineup all year long and finished up with a slightly above-average 103 OPS+. That was combined with strong defense in left field and gave him a solid baseline for his career.

That seemed to go well for Bu-Bu-Bennie and the Sox. But more importantly, it bodes well for Gleyber, as well as the 2018 Yankees. Plus, Andrew never won an Arizona Fall League MVP. So, yes, Gleyber Torres is ready to play at the Major League level right now.

But are the Yankees ready to pay for that privilege?