WASHINGTON – Remember when the Tigers moved Miguel Cabrera to third base to make room for the nine-figure Prince Fielder pickup at first base? I will always remember how a veteran and executive of the rival team analyzed the possibility of sliding on Cabrera, at that time still an elite hitter but already immobile as a piano, to the hottest corner.
“He will let in three races,” joked the executive, “and will drive in four.”
Gleyber Torres is much more athletic than Triple Crown Miggy, but the same principle was applied Sunday in National Park, with the help of Torres’ friends. He could very well lead the 23-year-old through his maiden voyage as the Yankees’ full-time shortstop.
Thanks to Torres ‘bat and Tommy Kahnle covering Torres’ second mistake of this young season, the Yankees won their first rubber game of the season, a 3-2 thriller about defending champion Nats. At 2-1, they headed to Philadelphia to face the Phillies by Joe Girardi and Didi Gregorius.
“I feel so bad in that situation, but I always believe in Kahnle,” Torre said. “After my mistake, she overpowered the last guys.”
The Post can confirm that, as well as the fact that Torres picked up three of the Yankees’ five hits, including a solo home run in the seventh inning to left field by Washington stud Patrick Corbin who broke the shutout, and the game winner. , Sean Doolittle’s eighth inning single to left center that brought Aaron Hicks home with the tiebreaker. The 23-year-old had entered day 0 for 6 with a walk.
“We were waiting for Gleyber to explode,” said Luke Voit, who closed the home run that tied the game in the seventh inning against Will Harris. “Today, it finally exploded in a clutch fashion.”
“In the first two games of the season, I was too excited, after four months [of not playing]. I have too much energy, “he said.” I [woke] thinking about putting the ball in play today. “That approach worked well after his strikeout in the first inning.
Torres rarely fails to acknowledge his mistakes after the fact. Regarding his poor pitch to Voit on Trea Turner’s single shot in the eighth, he said: “Turner is a really fast guy. I think I was in a bit of a rush early.” After Adam Eaton doubled the tie run, Turner to third, Kahnle delivered, hitting old friend Starlin Castro and Eric Thames on a free pass for Howie Kendrick. The atmosphere was “definitely the same, even without the fans,” Kahnle said, and sure, it was tense.
That Torres proceeded to record the game’s final exit, getting the speedy Michael Taylor to play closely at the beginning to secure Zack Britton’s first save of the season, underscored the young man’s perseverance.
“We say all the time, the next play is the most important,” said Aaron Boone. “To be a major league athlete, you have to live that. Great job.”
Saturday marked the fourth anniversary of Torres becoming a Yankee through an exchange that sent Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs, and Torres celebrated on Twitter, writing, “One of the best things that has happened to me in New York.” . He already feels like one of the best trades in Yankees history, with plenty of time to go (Torres may become a free agent after 2024).
“It is an honor for me,” Torres said of being a Yankee. “I feel like family every day. When I arrived at the baseball stadium, this organization, all my teammates gave me that familiar feeling.
“I just want to be a part of the great story, and I’m working very hard to be a part of that story.”
Family members are never perfect, are they? The Yankees are counting on Torres, primarily a major league second baseman before Gregorius’ departure, to become his shortstop. They can more than live with that growth process if he continues to overcome his mistakes and his teammates pick him up like him.
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