Gleyber Torres Hits First Homer of 2024; Hopes to Fix Struggles

The New York Yankees have had an impressive start to the season, but Gleyber Torres has not. The second baseman finished 2023 with a team-high .273 batting average, driving in 68 runs and hitting 25 homers. In a Yankees team that struggled offensively last season, Torres was the lone bright spot, especially throughout Aaron Judge’s summer injury.  This season, the 27-year-old is slashing .218 and has scored seven runners. Torres hit his first home run of the season in New York’s 7-2 loss to Baltimore on Thursday. Despite that, Torres made a crucial error that scored two Orioles in the fifth inning. After the game, Yankees manager Aaron Boone had some honest words about the mistake.

“He’s got to secure the ball,” Boone said of Torres. “He’s made that play a lot. Didn’t in that spot.” New York, who won one of four games against Baltimore, has recently struggled to score runs and come up with timely hits. The Yankees will need Torres to step up, especially since he will be an unrestricted free agent in the offseason. If Torres cannot fix the poor numbers, it is likely that New York will not offer him a contract extension and he will have to look elsewhere to play baseball next season. 

Torres has been a Yankee since 2018 and has plenty of experience with the team. The second baseman has hit more than 23 long balls in four of his six past seasons, excluding the shortened 2020 season and 2021 campaign. The numbers are promising; Torres should get going, but hopefully, sooner rather than later. New York has been led by Juan Soto, Alex Verdugo, and Anthony Volpe thus far. To the surprise of many, Torres and Judge have the lowest batting averages for the team’s main starters. The Yankees will need Torres and Judge to step it up in their upcoming series against the Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros in the Bronx. One thing is for sure, though, Torres is fully aware of the troubles and is working hard to fix them. “I didn’t think that was going to be the way I hit my first homer of the year, especially after that error,” Torres said. “I’ve been working in the cage, trying to get better results and fix those little things.”