Yankees’ Gleyber Torres gets real on huge home run amid ice cold start

Torres sounded off on his gratitude for his teammates postgame amid his slump, via Brendan Kuty of The Athletic.

“For that reason, I always say this is home, this is more than teammates, it’s family,” Torres said. “The relationships I have here are amazing and everybody is here with me right now.”

Will the unconditional support of the clubhouse be enough to help Torres rise from the ashes?

Expect Gleyber Torres to pick things up as the Yankees’ season wears on

History shows that Torres has recently been playing far below his typical level. The two-time All-Star has a career .264/.332/.445 slash line over 776 games.  Usually, players revert to their long-term averages as the season progresses, so it’s unlikely that he’ll struggle so heavily the entire year.

Torres’ second homer of the year came a day after he got benched. New York manager Aaron Boone thought that a break was in order amidst the slump, via Kuty.

“Just felt like he could use a day here,” Boone said. “It’s a classic example that hitting is hard, even for really good players. Physically, it’s all there for him to click, and I do think that will happen.”

Yankees hitting coach James Rowson cited possible issues in Torres’ swing as a source of the issue.

“We’ve seen some at-bats where there’s more drift than others and not finding consistency with his landing,” he said. “For me, sometimes with him, you see it and you watch it, he goes from the leg lift to just more of the toe tap loading action, still trying to find that timing which will affect how he lands and how his head moves.

In Sunday night’s homer, Torres employed more of a toe tap than a leg kick, so he could use that method more moving forward. The minimal leg movement helped keep his head more still as well, which is always good for a hitter’s vision. Torres echoed Rowson’s sentiments.

“It’s hard to explain, but everything is moving a lot,” he said. “I’m trying to be more quiet at home plate. Just try to have more consistency in my point of contact and just fighting a lot to have success.

In addition to his starting spot, Torres has financial ramifications at stake. The Venezuelan international is in a contract year, so he could be leaving money on the table if he doesn’t heat up soon.

Regardless, the Yankees are still off to a solid start, sitting a half-game out of the division lead at 27-15. If Torres does break out of his slump, it could be the last push they need to leapfrog over the Baltimore Orioles for the AL East crown.