Ordinarily a subpar defender, Gleyber Torres made a great defensive play early on against the Tampa Bay Rays. It’s still early in the game, but it is a rare defensive highlight from someone who has been much maligned for his defense. The fans came out to support after seeing the quality display.
The quality wasn’t exclusive to Torres, though. Anthony Volpe, the reigning AL Gold Glove winner at shortstop, made a clutch defensive stop on the very first play of the inning. Torres followed it up by fielding an absolute rocket off the bat of Josh Lowe.
The ball was one-hopped to Torres at second base 105 miles per hour. He slid around and backhanded the ball before flipping to Anthony Rizzo to record the first out.
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“This is the defense we should be seeing everyday,” one fan tweeted.
“Surely everyone will applaud Gleyber for that insane play,” another tweeted.
“Keep this going as well just saying,” another fan tweeted.
“Defence is solid,” one tweeted.
Defensive miscues in the infield have reared their ugly head this year for the Yankees. Even Volpe, one of the best defensive shortstops in the game, has made some errors. Rizzo has made some mistakes, and Torres is perhaps their least impactful defender in the infield, but they showed up early vs. the Rays.
Gleyber Torres’ infield defense has been lackluster
Save for a few seasons or sporadic good plays, Gleyber Torres has never been a great defender. He was abysmal at shortstop and has been sometimes decent at second base.
In 2024, that has remained true. He only has one defensive runs saved (DRS) in a season for his career (2022), where he played well and saved nine runs.
This year, it’s more of the same. He is -2 for the year with 347.1 innings to his name. He’s on track for another negative performance at defense, though his offense usually makes up for it. That’s hardly been the case this year as he’s struggled at the plate.
