Gleyber Torres doesn't know what's ahead of him in free agency, so he's choosing to focus on his current and possibly final postseason run in the Bronx.
He admitted Friday that he has thought about the possibility that this will be his last October as a Yankee, as free agency looms after the playoffs.
“Sometimes I think about it, but I'm not going to lie,” Torres said before hitting leadoff again against the Pirates at Stadium. “It's hard to predict the future and we don't know what's going to happen after the postseason. I'm trying to enjoy everything with my teammates and look forward to the playoffs again.”
Torres' up-and-down season is looking up, at least at the plate, as he enters Friday with five extra-base hits in his past 13 games as part of a strong second half for the second baseman. He posted an impressive OPS of .782 in 61 games since July 13th.
“It's really hard to explain how I started and struggled for the first few months,” Torres said. “It was really scary and frustrating. Every day I went to [batting] Do the right thing in the cage and go 0-for-4 with errors and strikeouts. It's good that everyone else was collecting them, though. [All-Star] I could have played better with the break. ”
There are still too many mental lapses and lack of hustle play, but Aaron Boone has hung in there with Torres at the top of the lineup and in the middle of the infield.
“This playoffs are going to be really special,” Torres said. “We've learned a lot this year and we need to celebrate.” [Thursday]”
Torres lamented what the Yankees couldn't do a year ago, when his team missed the playoffs for the first time in his career despite a solid season at the plate. Ta.
“This year it means even more because last year we didn't celebrate anything,” Torres said. “From 2018 to '22, we were in the postseason every year and we probably took it for granted. And then last year we got punched in the face.”
So he's enjoying this drive.
“I don't know if this is the last celebration for me or for us,” Torres said. “That's why I want to play well.”
But amidst that solid play, there were also mistakes that hurt Torres throughout his career.
He has been criticized for his lazy approach to pop-ups and occasionally makes base running errors.
It was this kind of play that hurt the Yankees on Tuesday. At that moment, Torres, chasing a run, was thrown between third base and home by a base hit by Juan Soto, forcing his team to lose a rally with Aaron Judge on deck. Orioles.
Even though the Yankees clinched the AL East title, this game still haunted them as they entered Friday looking to secure the best record in the American League, which would at least secure home-field advantage through the ALCS. There is a possibility that
“I still have work to do,” Torres said. “Boone is with me and it means a lot. I just want to do well.”
