Believe it or not, but Spring Training games start this month. The Yankees may still have a move or two up their sleeve, but it’s likely not going to be anything big. One of their big moves was re-signing DJ LeMahieu. This solidifies Gleyber Torres getting another shot at being the everyday shortstop. Can he be better defensively than he was in 2020?
2020 and before
To put it lightly, Torres was not good at short. He was -4 outs above average (OAA), with a good chunk of that coming from his lateral movement on balls hit in the hole.
But this really wasn’t anything new. Take a look at his stats even before 2020:
|
Year |
OAA (2B) | OAA (SS) | OAA (2B, lateral to his right) | OAA (SS, lateral to his right) |
|
2018 |
-1 |
-4 |
-1 |
-2 |
|
2019 |
-3 |
-3 |
-2 |
-3 |
| 2020 | – | -4 | – |
-4 |
While he’s been a little better at second, he’s still below average.
For some additional context, Gio Urshela has been a constant zero OAA (average) throughout his career on balls to his left, so there could be a good amount of balls that get through that 5-6 hole that perhaps shouldn’t.
2021 and beyond
LeMahieu’s best defensive position is second base. However, the numbers show that he has had quite a steep drop-off at the position since coming to New York.
|
Year |
OAA (2B) |
|
2017 |
9 |
|
2018 |
13 |
|
2019 |
2 |
| 2020 |
-1 |
While he might not be the defender he once was, he is still best situated at second — and he could be there for the next six years. Of course, he can always slide over to first, but Gleyber looks like he will have to figure out how to man shortstop for the foreseeable future.
I want to preface this next part by saying I am by no means an infield coach. But each year since 2018, Torres has moved his starting position ever so slightly to the left. This would make it all that much harder to get to a ball in the hole. Perhaps he could move back to his left a little bit to get better coverage on that side.
As seen by the graphs below, he’s not that bad fielding balls hit to his left, so he could afford to move in the hole a bit to compensate for his poor metrics moving to his right. As a result, he could also move back a step or two, as that would allow him to get a better angle on the balls in the hole as well as slightly more time.
All in all, Gleyber is going to need to figure out how to play shortstop. By the eye-test, Urshela and LeMahieu provide solid flanks for the 24-year-old, and with both not going away any time soon, that leaves Torres at short. Perhaps he could move to the outfield, but the Yankees already have a plethora of players there, with many of them signed for a while.
Torres had a down year in 2020 on both sides of the ball. Hopefully, we see him bounce back to being an All-Star caliber offensive player. On the defensive end, we don’t need him to be at that level — getting to league-average would be an accomplishment.
