Gleyber Torres gets on Yankees manager Aaron Boone's last nerve, benched for lack of hustle
By Austin Owens
After a long, rough stretch, the New York Yankees ended the month of July on a five-game winning streak and appeared to gain some momentum heading into August. It didn't take too long to see that momentum perish.
On Friday night, the Yankees played host to the last place Toronto Blue Jays in the first game of a three game set. The Blue Jays came out on top by a score of 8-5 but it is not just the loss that caught the attention of Yankees fans.
It was second baseman Gleyber Torres getting benched by manager Aaron Boone.
(For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray's work on The Baseball Insider podcast, and join the discord to get the inside scoop between now and the MLB offseason.)
Gleyber Torres gets benched by Aaron Boone for lack of hustle
It appears that Torres may be going through a little bit of a crisis. When the Yankees second baseman discovered that Jazz Chisholm would be his teammate, he was quick to claim second base as his position.
With Torres hitting .233 with 10 home runs on the year, you would think he would be doing whatever it takes to leave no doubt that his name will be on Boone's lineup card. On Friday night, he did just the opposite.
In the bottom of the 2nd inning with the Yankees trailing by one run, Torres barreled a ball down the left field line and thought he had tied the game. He admired the baseball, jogged down the first base line before sprinting to first, and ended up with a single off a hit that nailed the left field wall. As a result of his lack of hustle, Boone removed Torres from the game after the third inning.
You can check out Torres admiring his hit from multiple angles, courtesy of Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News.
It certainly didn't help matters that Torres was thrown out at home after trying to score from first on a double by shortstop Anthony Volpe.
The substitution did not happen immediately but that was just simply because Boone was giving Oswaldo Cabrera (Torres' replacement) time to warm up first, per the manager during the post-game press conference. Boone never had any doubt that Torres was coming out after his antics.
“I just felt like in that moment, I felt like I needed to do that. Simple as that. … hopefully this is a great learning moment for all of us," said Boone.
With the Yankees all square with the Baltimore Orioles for the AL East division lead, this is the type of effort (or lack thereof) that Boone can't afford to see.
Torres was apologetic for his actions and even had a discussion with captain Aaron Judge which we do not know the details of.
"I have to get better," said Torres, h/t ESPN's Jorge Castillo. "And I feel really sorry for [what I did] tonight, especially for the fans and also for my teammates. I'm a human being. I made an error and I feel like from what I did tonight I'm going to learn a lot. And I just want to compete with my teammates and I want to play great. And do 100 percent for my team."
Torres is still expected to remain in the Yankees lineup on Saturday, but one has to wonder if he now has a short leash after this benching.