Report: Yankees promote top prospect Gleyber Torres to the majors
The New York Yankees kicked off the prospect promotion portion of the MLB season with a bang on Saturday.
According to YES Network’s Jack Curry, top prospect Gleyber Torres will join the Yankees for their series finale against the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday.
Torres should be the first major name in a long line of promotions now that enough time has passed for teams to gain of an extra year of service time on top prospects. The Atlanta Braves are also manipulating the service time guidelines with the top prospect still in the minors, outfielder Ronald Acuña, Jr.
According to MLB Pipeline, Torres was baseball’s No. 5 prospect coming into the 2018 season. He’s backed that up with a strong showing at Triple A over the first two weeks. Entering Saturday, Torres was slashing .370/.415/.573 with one homer, one triple and three doubles. All of that has come with Torres splitting time between second, shortstop and third base.
With Didi Gregorius locked in at shortstop, Torres will likely see the bulk of his major league playing time at second and third. Neil Walker, Miguel Andujar, Tyler Wade, Ronald Torreyes and Brandon Drury, who’s currently on the disabled list, are also in that mix. Torres is clearly the superior talent though and the Yankees aren’t bringing him up to ride the bench.
According to Katie Sharp of River Avenue Blues, the 21-year-old Torres will be the youngest Yankee to make his MLB debut in a game before July 1 since Derek Jeter on May 29, 1995. Torres won’t turn 22 until December.
In anticipation of his callup, Torres was asked Saturday if he felt he was ready to contribute in the big leagues. Here’s what he told the New York Post.
“It’s tough to answer that question,” Torres said with a slight smile Saturday. “I’m feeling pretty good right now. I’m trying to stay humble. I enjoy every game, every opportunity. Just trying to play my game.”
“At every position I feel comfortable,” said Torres, who added he has no preference. “I play third, I play second, I’m prepared. I just do my job, whatever they ask me, and I’m ready.”
Torres was in the lineup for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s afternoon game against Toledo. He went 0-for-3 before being replaced by a pinch-hitter.
Torres is also one year removed from Tommy John surgery, but says he’s fully healthy.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Yahoo Sports Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
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