Upon entering the Trenton Thunder’s team store at Arm & Hammer Park, fans will quickly have their attention drawn to an ample supply of shirts and jerseys for sale. At the Double-A level, much of the apparel displayed is generic; there are no names or numbers printed on the back–just the team’s name and logo on the front. But on a few select hangers near the front door, one name can be found on the back, although he won’t don that particular pinstripe uniform again.
For 32 games, Gleyber Torres wore No. 11 with Trenton, but soon those tees and jerseys will appear on clearance racks, as the Yankees’ top prospect was promoted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre last Sunday afternoon. He’s now just a phone call away, the old phrase says, but despite Torres’ exceptional start to the 2017 campaign, New York will likely have Torres wear No. 7 with the Triple-A Railriders for more than just seven weeks.
These will probably be on sale soon. pic.twitter.com/Nk5g7q5X3O
— Tom Hanslin (@tomhanslin) May 24, 2017
“I’m not looking at Gleyber Torres right now on the major-league side,” Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told the New York Daily News on Thursday. “I’m just looking at Gleyber taking the next step at Triple-A Scranton. Just like when we were faced with, ‘Are you going to bring Gleyber up because Didi (Gregorius) is down?’ the answer was, ‘No, we aren’t going to interrupt his player-development process.'”
While Torres was primarily tagged as a shortstop when the Yankees acquired him last summer in a blockbuster deal with the Cubs, the 20-year-old has moved about the infield this year, spending some time at both second and third base. So far, Torres has played just two games at the next level, but that defensive rotation will continue to further advance his development.
According to the Daily News, Tim Naehring, the Yankees’ VP of baseball operations, recommended the promotion to Cashman, and in a few week’s time, a few executives collaborated and made the decision. Ultimately, the promotion was justified by Torres’ numbers, as he hit .273/.367/.496 with five home runs and 18 RBI in 121 at-bats.
“I’m going by what I saw in spring training. And I thought it was a young man who really knew how to play the game, where the game was pretty slow for him,” manager Joe Girardi said of Torres to WFAN radio. “It didn’t speed up for him. And there’s obviously little things that all players have to improve on, but I think he’s done a good job of playing all over the infield. He’s played at second, short and third — short being his natural position. I think he knows how to grind out at-bats, what he needs to do in a certain at-bat. And I think he’s continued to do that in the minor leagues.”
Now, it’s all a matter of when–not if–Torres hops on a shuttle en route to the Bronx. Regardless of his ranking or reputation, he would be hard-pressed to find a starting job, as shortstop Didi Gregorius and second baseman Starlin Castro have swung hot bats. But, slumps are inevitable in baseball, as are injuries, and with those instances come opportunities for others. Per the report, Cashman hasn’t ruled out the possibility of Torres seeing the majors this summer.
“That’s possible,” Cashman said. “That happens all the time where, ‘Hey, we’d rather him stay down, but the need is there and he’s the best alternative.’ A lot of times guys get brought in here even when they haven’t finished all aspects off. You saw Didi playing here when he came over from Arizona and he wasn’t a finished product, he couldn’t hit lefties. So guys continue to finish their development up at the big-league level. And Aaron Hicks is doing what he’s doing this year and he’s been finishing off his development the last few years with Minnesota and us.”
So, all doors are open at this point, which means the time to purchase Torres’ Triple-A apparel is now.
