Yankees At-Bat of the Week: Gleyber Torres (4/27)

30/04/2024 19:00

Gleyber may finally be coming out of his slump.

Here's the thing about hitting. You do all your prep work and scouting before the game to get into the right mindset, but when you're in the batter's box, you are there to battle. Last season when Gleyber Torres dropped his strikeout rate to a career-low 14.6 percent, that is exactly what he did every at-bat. Whether he was off balance or had a stable base, he was going to make sure to not let the pitcher beat him with strike three. It was the most positive development of his very good 2023 season. But to start this year, things have been different.

Gleyber's off balance swings have been worse and his body has hardly been in the right position to fight at the plate. This weekend in Milwaukee was the first sign of light for Torres this season. He had some opportunities and came through a few times. On Saturday against Joe Ross, he stepped to the plate with the bases juiced and one out. He immediately went down in the count but refused to give in. Here's how it all happened:

Pitch 1 (0-0, sinker)

I like to see aggressive swings on in-zone fastballs with runners in scoring position. You have one goal and that is to get your guys in. Yeah, that can be done with a walk, but hard contact is more rewarding. Even if you don't get a heater in the heart, put a good swing on it. It's a sound approach, regardless of if you go down 0-1.

Pitch 2 (0-1, sinker)

Same approach here: if you get the heater, take a good swing. Per usual, the TV K-Zone was deceptive because this pitch was in the zone for a strike. It is difficult to elevate the up and in pitch, but I respect Gleyber getting his hacks in on pitches he thought he could catch up to. However, the good approach led to an 0-2 count and it was time to battle.

Pitch 3 (0-2, four-seamer)

This one was too close to take, and plus, a pitch middle-up is good to elevate for a sac fly. It was a good sign to see Torres stay in his feet through the swing and not get sped up as the pitch moved over the top of the zone. So far, he took three swings with no good result, but that is okay! It gave him confidence that the heater wouldn't overpower him, giving him a better shot at fighting off breaking balls.

Pitch 4 (0-2, slider)

This was a great lesson in how to change eye levels. Ross' slider has both horizontal and vertical movement to it, so when it comes out of the hand, it tunneled in the same slot as the previous three pitches. Gleyber stood in his legs just long enough to fight this one off. It wasn't the prettiest, but the location made it difficult to get off a high quality hack. Either way, the pitch was a wash. Time to run it back.

Pitch 5 (0-2, four-seamer)

Ross tried to switch it up by abbreviating his leg kick to speed Gleyber up, but he lost his mechanics down the mound and drifted towards the left-handed batter's box, leading to a ball out of the zone that wasn't tempting to chase. From Torres' perspective, this was another confidence booster. Ross mixed the timing, yet he was unphased. It seemed as if he was seeing the heater very well. Now, it was a 1-2 count.

Pitch 6 (1-2, slider)

This slider was even better than the previous one, but Torres spoiled it once again. These foul-off, battle swings are necessary in pitcher's counts. They're reminiscent of where Torres was last year in two-strike counts. Even if it wasn't a high quality hack, he was willing to use his bat-to-ball skills to fight off borderline pitches. As he progresses into peak form, you'd like to see him take this, but for now it is a good fight.

Pitch 7 (1-2, four-seamer)

This is the kind of take I'm talking about. He was protecting low and away, but wasn't fooled enough to emergency hack at this fastball that was over four inches out of the zone. Even with the weird swings against the breakers, Torres seemed to be in the driver's seat. He was a mistake away from winning this battle.

Pitch 8 (2-2, sinker)

It takes a lot to execute pitch after pitch after pitch. A hitter can wear you down to the point where you make one bad mistake and it costs you three runs. This was a vintage Gleyber swing. When he is at his best, he is working towards the opposite field gap, especially with two strikes. The power still hasn't popped, but at-bats like these are a good sign that Torres is heading in the right direction. That will bode well for the Yankees' lineup.