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Saturday, July 10, 2021

HoraceClarke66: Toonces, Too!

 

Okay, Yankees fans: time to acknowledge the second coming of…Toonces!

An estimable Yankees fan friend in Southern California—He was once ejected from an Angels game at the Big A for cheering too vociferously for the Yanks. Not for using profanity or being drunk or anything, mind you. Just for rooting too hard for the visiting team.—feels that the sad, strange demise of Gleyber “Squinty” Torres, formerly known as “El Conquistador,” can be attributed to the fact that he is playing “out of position.”

For those of us who actually watch the games, it’s hard to argue with the idea that The Gleyber is a better second-sacker than a shortstop. The statistics seem to back that up. In his 174 games as a major-league second baseman, Torres has made 21 errors, or about 1 every 8.3 games.  In 212 games at short, he has made 37 errors, or about 1 every 5.3 games.

 (Though it’s interesting to note that, according to baseballreference’s range statistics—which, like many fielding stats, are wildly contradictory—Torres often has displayed even less range at second than he has at short.)

 But is he out of position?

 The big plan for this Yankees dynasty-that-never-was, if you’ll recall, was that it would be led by Gleyber Torres, shortstop of the future. Of the 376 games Torres has played in the minors, he’s put in only 46 outside of shortstop.

 Shortstop was what he was brought up to play, and shortstop was what he was always intended for.

 Nonetheless, since the 2020 season began, Gleyber has recorded all of 6 home runs and 21 errors as a shortstop in 114 regular-season games.

 By comparison, Bucky Dent, who would often choke up on the bat, recorded 13 home runs and 28 errors during his 281 games at shortstop in 1977-78. Phil Rizzuto, who weighed 150 pounds soaking wet and played in a home park the size of the Grand Canyon, stroked 12 homers and made 37 errors in 307 games in 1949-50.

 So what are we to make of all this?

 I can only say that it shows Gleyber CAN play shortstop…just not very well!

 He’s Toonces II!

5 comments:

JM said...

But can he drive? Obviously, not a baseball, but you know.

HoraceClarke66 said...

That new guys announcer—keep forgetting his name, fortunately—kept saying last night how he really looked like he was coming around: "He's getting back to the legs! He's on the legs!"

Yes, Torres does have legs. For which we can all be thankful.

His production last night consisted of a pair of singles.

"Where have you gone Chicken Stanley
A fan base turns its lonely eyes to you..."

Anonymous said...

Ryan Ruocco--whose chief qualification is that he's so awful that he's no threat to the dreadful Michael Kay. Ruocco tells us that the batter "flew out to left field," as though he had sprouted wings, instead of the correct "flied out to left field." That's just the beginning.

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