It’s been a long season for Gleyber Torres already.
The New York Yankees infielder endured a long night Friday — mostly from the bench.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone benched Torres midway through the Yankees’ game against the Toronto Blue Jays for a lack of hustle.
Torres took his time getting out of the batter’s box in the second inning, apparently watching to admire a 111-mph line drive into left field.
The ball clanged off the wall. What should have been a double was a single instead. Torres jogged into first base.
Later in the inning, Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe hit a double of his own to left field. Had Torres been on second base, he would have scored easily.
Instead, Torres was thrown out at home plate. The Yankees ended up losing the game, 8-5.
When Torres was pulled in favor of Oswaldo Cabrera after the inning, cameras showed him exchanging words with Boone in the dugout:
After the game, Torres addressed the situation directly with reporters.
“He didn’t like the way I didn’t run in the moment to second base,” Torres said of Boone. “I think he did the right thing especially in the moment. As a professional you have to take the consequences. Especially in the moment, I don’t have to think too much. I have to run, get on second, then think what happened. For one second I thought it was a homer. Instead it was a single. I have to get better.
“I feel really sorry for whatever I did tonight, especially for the fans ad for my teammates. I’m a human being. I made an error. Whatever I did tonight, I’m going to learn from a lot,” Torres added.
“I just felt like I needed to [bench him] in that spot,” Boone said. “I’m not going to get too down the rabbit hole of making judgments on this one. I just felt like, in that moment, I needed to do that. Simple as that. Is what it is. It’s over with. You got to move on. He and I have spoken and hopefully this is a great learning moment for all of us.”
It’s not often Torres gets to admire his own home runs. He’s hit 10 this season and only two since June 28. Overall he’s hitting .233, well below his career .263 average. His .308 on-base percentage and .359 slugging percentage are also well below his career averages of .331 and .442, respectively.
Torres’ struggles, in part, prompted the Yankees to trade for infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline.
More news: Yankees Acquire All-Star Jazz Chisholm Jr in Blockbuster Deal: Reports
Torres was back in the lineup Saturday against the Blue Jays in The Bronx.
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