Fansided

5 Yankees who haven’t lived up to the hype in 2020

By Rucker Haringey

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 01: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Gary Sanchez #24 of the New York Yankees in action against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on August 01, 2020 in New York City. The Yankees defeated the Red Sox 5-2. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 01: (NEW YORK DAILIES OUT) Gary Sanchez #24 of the New York Yankees in action against the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium on August 01, 2020 in New York City. The Yankees defeated the Red Sox 5-2. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /
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Gleyber Torres, New York Yankees
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 17: Gleyber Torres #25 of the New York Yankees reacts after hitting a home run during the fourth inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium on September 17, 2020 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /

4. Gleyber Torres

Torres is on this list because he has the talent required to be a perennial MVP candidate. His performance over the course of 2020 season fell well short of those high expectations. Instead, Torres arguably had a negative impact overall on the team’s regular-season record.

That statement is largely based on the fact that Torres’ WAR for the season was -0.2 over the course of the 40 games he played. Even modest expectations for a player of his caliber would have been north of 1.0 win for the full campaign.

A relatively hot finish to the regular season allowed him to post bad, but not disastrous, final numbers at the plate. He’ll certainly want to forget any season where he hits .248 with only three home runs. He may never lead the league in batting average, but this is a shortstop who hit 38 dingers a season ago. The complete evaporation of his power is a big reason behind his team’s offensive struggles.

There was some hope that moving back to shortstop would improve his defense, but that hasn’t materialized. Instead, he’s been one of the weakest defensive players in baseball at his position. Torres’ struggles to make even routine defensive plays in 2020 have cost his pitching staff dearly.

No one in New York is pressing the panic button on Torres’ ugly season, but it’s impossible to ignore how much his struggles have negatively impacted the team’s 2020 record.

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