It looks like Gleyber Torres was finally pulled for lack of hustle.
In the second inning, the Yankees’ second baseman didn’t run hard out of the box on a line drive off the left-field fence and had to settle for a single.
Three batters later, he was thrown out trying to score on an Anthony Volpe double.
He obviously would’ve scored if he was on second base.
He was taken out after three innings and replaced by Oswaldo Cabrera in the Yankees’ 8-5 loss to the Blue Jays to open a nine-game homestand in The Bronx.
Video was captured of manager Aaron Boone and Torres speaking in the clubhouse before he was taken out.
“If he’s taken out for not running on that line drive to left, and then that cost them a run, you can say well, why didn’t he take him out in the third?” YES announcer Michael Kay said. “Well, he probably just went right to second base after being thrown out. This is probably the first time he had a chance to talk to him.”
Added former Yankees manager and YES analyst Joe Girardi: “You hate to do it to players. But sometimes it’s necessary. Because you really have to get your point across. You try a number of times to do it verbally. … And then at times you have to resort to this. We don’t know if that’s the case, or if he got hurt, he’s trying to stay in, but it sure seems that way.”
Lack of hustle is something that Torres has become somewhat known for.
During the Subway Series on June 26 against the Mets, Torres failed to run out a softly hit ground ball in the eighth inning that might have been a close play if he had run hard.
After the game, Torres blamed a groin that had forced him from a game the previous week and which grew tight.
Boone called Torres into his office after the loss and talked with the 27-year-old.
He was benched for the next few games, which Boone said at the time was partly about his subpar performance and partly a disciplinary measure.
It has been a shaky season for Torres, a pending free agent.
He’s slashing just .231/.306/.357 with a dismal .663 OPS, 10 home runs and 42 RBIs.
Torres has also committed 14 errors in the field, the most by any second baseman.
