Yankees’ Gleyber Torres criticized for lack of hustle

Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres drew criticism for a lack of hustle on the basepaths in a key moment Tuesday night.

In the eighth inning of the Yankees’ 9-7 loss against the Mets at Citi Field, Torres came up with the bases empty and two outs, immediately after teammate Aaron Judge socked a grand slam to cut the Yankees’ 9-3 deficit to just two runs. Torres tapped the ball softly toward shortstop, where the Mets’ Francisco Lindor initially charged it. Seeing Torres just jogging down the line, however, Lindor waited on the ball and fired it to first base in plenty of time for the inning’s final out.

Torres’ decision not to run out his grounder — on a play in which he could have beaten the throw or at least forced an errant toss — was widely criticized. The seventh-year Yankees infielder got down the line at a top speed of just 21 feet per second, well below his 26.4 ft/sec average.

“I mean, you can’t do that,” YES play-by-play broadcaster Michael Kay said.

Torres, for his part, said his groin felt “very tight” during the at-bat. He previously left Thursday’s game against the Orioles at Yankee Stadium with left groin tightness and did not play in Friday’s series opener against the Braves. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he and Torres discussed the play, adding that Torres has been “a little bit careful” at times since his initial injury. The 27-year-old has been struggling in 2024, hitting just .215 with a .627 OPS.

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

Torres was also charged with a fielding error in the sixth inning on a Brandon Nimmo ground ball underneath his glove, which brought home the first of three Mets runs in the frame.

Boone praised Torres’ defense in recent weeks but acknowledged the second baseman should have corralled the grounder with the Yankees’ infield in.

“That’s a play he’s got to make,” Boone said. “I mean, simple as that. He didn’t make it tonight. It happens. But we’ve got to get him going.”