Here’s the worst swing you’ll see in baseball this year
If Baseball School were an actual place, this would be one of the lessons: When you’re at the plate and your teammate is stealing a base, help him out. Swing at the pitch. Make it a little harder for the catcher to throw him out.
When it came time to show an instructional video, they would definitely NOT show the above clip of New York Yankees utility man Ronald Torreyes. Because it’s downright embarrassing.
[Join a Yahoo Daily Fantasy Baseball contest now]
Torreyes was at the plate in the fifth inning of Thursday’s game against the Texas Rangers. The score was 1-1 after Didi Gregorious had hit a solo homer earlier in the inning. Aaron Hicks walked. And Torreyes was up with one out, trying to, at the very least, get the go-ahead run in scoring position. That didn’t happen.
Here’s what did happen: The Rangers pitched out, which was smart because Hicks was running. They threw him out at second base, despite a creative slide by Hicks. But the embarrassing part was Torreyes’ swing. He meekly flailed his bat AFTER the ball was already in the catcher’s glove. Rangers catcher Robinson Chirinos was actually throwing the ball to second when Torreyes finished his swing.
The swing was bad enough, but the thought process was worse. It was like he thought, “Oh, crap, I better swing.” Only he thought it a second too late. And he was wrong.
There’s no reason to swing during a pitch out. The opposing team is saying, “Here, we’ll give you a ball” and Torreyes gave it right back to them. That was strike two, and he struck out on the next pitch. Talk about killing a rally.
Luckily for Torreyes, that won’t be the lasting memory of the Thursday’s game. The Yankees got a 2-1 walk-off win when Chirinos allowed a passed ball in the bottom of the ninth and Chase Headley dashed home with the winning run. Your team might have picked you up, Mr. Torreyes, but the Internet is still laughing at you.
More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:
The StewPod: A baseball podcast by Yahoo Sports
Subscribe via iTunes or via RSS feed
– – – – – – –
Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
