The Yankees took two out of three games from the Tampa Bay Rays but the best part of the series was to see Gleyber Torres break out of what has been a season-long slump.
Sometimes some players seem to put extra pressure on themselves. There are always different reasons why. In the case of Torres, he is in a contract year so that could possibly be the situation. If that’s the case then the team is supposed to have personnel that can help talk him through the process so that he can get back on track.
I have a long relationship with Gleyber so we spoke over the weekend and he told me that he sat with Omar Minaya the former Mets and Expos general manager and the assistant to Brian Cashman before they left for the road. He said that Omar had some positive suggestions. I didn’t want to ask what those suggestions were because that’s something that the player has to digest within himself. However, I know both Gleyber and Omar well enough that I could tell that the ingredients were stirring on Gleyber’s head in a positive way.
The first time up on Sunday his approach was solid. I could tell that there was definitely a plan. When he took an outside breaking pitch to the right center field warning track, even though it was caught I knew it was just a question of time.
In the eighth inning with two runners on base and the score at 6-5, Gleyber fought off some tough pitches and with the count at 2 and 2 he got ahead of a fastball and hit it out of the park. The key component was that he was not trying to hit a homer in that spot. He was just trying to make good contact. His whole approach all day could be the reason why we might be seeing a lot of what the former great Yankee broadcaster John Sterling used to call Gleyber Day.
By the way, the Yankees won 10-6 and pitcher Luis Gil was great again throwing 6 shutout innings.
