It’s Gleyber Torres Time in the Bronx

by  |  April 21, 2018

The New York Yankees are promoting their top prospect, infielder Gleyber Torres. He should join the team for their game against the Blue Jays on Sunday.

The 21-year-old Torres has been a top-10 prospect for a couple years now and was acquired in a deal with the Cubs in 2016 for closer Aroldis Chapman on their way to winning the World Series. The Yankees had acquired Chapman earlier that season for pennies on the dollar due to Chapman’s domestic violence charges.

Last year, Torres’ season was cut short due to a left elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery, but he started off this year right where he left off, hitting a robust .903 OPS in 14 games.

It’s unclear what position Torres will play for the Yankees, but he has experience at second base, third base and shortstop. It’s unlikely he’ll be bumping Didi Gregorius from short, but the team’s production at second and third has been underwhelming to start the season.

The promotion doesn’t really come as much of a surprise, since he was about to get the call last year before he was injured. And after posting solid batting lines in the minors, it’s about time to get him some Major League at bats.

The Yankees’ overall offense has been performing well, so they don’t need Torres to come up and be a spark plug. However, he could provide them with an improvement at defense along with a much higher upside for offensive output than Neil Walker, Brandon Drury and Ronald Torreyes.

Along with the Yankees other highly regarded prospect Miguel Andujar, Torres figures to become a mainstay on their infield for years to come.

The two other top prospects that everyone is waiting to get called up are the Atlanta Braves’ Ronald Acuna and the Cincinnati Reds’ Nick Senzel. Both of these players have not quite hit the cover off the ball this early in the season, but now that the arbitration eligibility date has come and gone, they should be expected to join their Major League clubs at any moment – possibly even just as soon as they put an offensive streak together.