Gleyber Torres on Yankees’ bench after recent struggles

NEW YORK — After coming into this year with high hopes, very little has gone as expected for Gleyber Torres, including landing on the bench for Wednesday’s Subway Series contest against the Mets at Citi Field.

Torres had an exceptionally rough game in a season that has included many of them in Tuesday’s 9-7 loss, including a key error in the sixth inning and failing to run out a grounder in the eighth. Torres has managed just two hits in his last 29 at-bats, spanning nine games.

“It’s been a grind. It’s been a struggle,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I think he’s feeling that a little bit. I think it’s hopefully something that will serve him well, mentally and physically, to just take an exhale and work to get him rolling. When he’s going like we’ve all seen him go, he’s a really important piece to the lineup.”

In explaining why he did not run hard in the eighth, Torres said that his groin felt “a little bit tight right now, and in that at-bat I felt it a little bit more, so I just shut it down.”

Torres spoke with Boone after the game in the visiting manager’s office. Boone acknowledged that Torres has been experiencing issues with his groin and quadriceps but characterized them as “nothing that’s too significant.”

Boone said that Torres’ jog down the base line, which immediately followed an Aaron Judge grand slam that brought the Yankees within two runs, was “one of the things that got my attention, certainly.”

According to Statcast, Torres’ top speed down the line was just 21 feet per second, well below his 26.4 ft/sec average.

“I actually went to bed last night with him in the lineup, slept on it and kind of toiled over it a little bit this morning,” Boone said. “I just felt like this is a good time to get a little reset. Hopefully, it’s something that serves him well and propels him.”

Torres was also charged with his 12th error (which leads all Major League second basemen) when Brandon Nimmo’s sixth-inning ground ball scooted underneath his glove with the infield in, bringing home the first of three Mets runs in the frame.

“He’s made too many errors, and those mistakes certainly are part of the story of his season so far,” Boone said. “He’s also done a lot of things this year that move the needle in a better way; he’s getting to more balls than he ever has in his career, with his first step and some of the range plays he’s making.”

A potential free agent after this season, the 27-year-old Torres has batted .215/.294/.333 (78 OPS+) with 13 doubles, seven homers and 29 RBIs in 80 games this season.

“I think it’s bad,” Torres said of his performance. “I have to figure it out, get better. I’m working really hard.”

Though Oswaldo Cabrera drew the start at second base on Wednesday — and Boone suggested that Torres might get more than one day off — the Yankees believe that Torres must remain a regular part of their lineup.

That’s especially true with infielder DJ LeMahieu also slumping, having not produced a single extra-base hit entering play on Wednesday. Veterans Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton are on the injured list, as is infielder Jon Berti, leaving the club more vulnerable than expected.

“He’s obviously really important to what we’re doing,” Boone said of Torres. “Especially right now, needing some meat in the middle of that lineup, we’ve got to get him going.”

He was one of the club’s most consistent offensive performers in 2023, when he batted .273/.347/.453 (117 OPS+) with 28 doubles, 25 homers and 68 RBIs in 158 games.

However, the Yankees did not engage Torres in extension talks this spring, preferring to see him play out the final year of a contract that will pay him $14.2 million this year.

Though Torres has said he would prefer to remain with the club, he has repeatedly said he is not distracted by the contract situation.

“We haven’t specifically talked about that weighing on him, but I think you know your guys enough to know what he’s been in his career,” Boone said. “He’s been struggling to get on that good roll. I sense that weighing on him, especially in the last couple of days.”