Yankees Ronald Torreyes Still Has a Roster Spot, Why?

Utility-man Ronald Torreyes made the New York Yankees opening day roster based on his defensive versatility. But after seeing his playing time virtually disappear, it’s become clear that he has no place on the roster.

Yankees fans were heartbroken, angered, confused, and whatever other adjective you can think of, when they heard Rob Refsnyder didn’t make the Opening Day roster this spring. He was banged up after taking two hard grounders to the face and looked pretty inadequate at third base when the Yankees tried to increase his versatility.

Refsnyder was a fan favorite, somewhat out of nowhere. Despite his strong showing towards the end of the 2015 season, he really hadn’t proved much at the big league level. So, giving Torreyes a shot seemed like it wasn’t that bad of an idea. He had shown strong contact skills in the minors the last few seasons if nothing else.

Even after getting regular time early on in the season, with a hot-stretch where he hit .313, Torreyes has still only played in 42 games. He’s appeared at second base, shortstop, third base, and right field for the Yankees this season. Now, that is the definition of what a utility-man is. But, it’s not as if he is a defensive wizard, where his glove makes up for his offensive shortcomings.

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He provides no power with his small frame, has no MLB home runs on his resume, and just five RBI’s this entire season.

We know that manager Joe Girardi has the tendency to give mediocre players more playing time than they deserve. Stephen Drew, Aaron Hicks, and Brendan Ryan are a few names that come to mind. But in Torreyes case, it truly doesn’t make much sense.

Why would Girardi keep Torreyes, the owner of a .218 average, on the bench, over Rob Refsnyder? It’s become clear that Ref doesn’t have much of a future with the Yankees as a starter, but it’s also evident that the organization is trying to groom him into becoming their main do-it-all guy.

In his time in the majors this year, he hit .264 with 11 RBI’s across 45 games. He saw time at second base, right field, and even first base. When injuries struck Mark Teixeira and every viable option behind him, Refsnyder adapted to learn a position he hadn’t played in years. He had his growing pains, but first base isn’t exactly the easiest position to learn on the fly.

The thing with Ref is that he always plays with heart. He’s been put in tough situations by the organization, but he’s never shown any anger or frustration with the decisions.

Next: Eovaldi Extension?

This isn’t to say that Refsnyder is the absolute best option to be on the roster over Torreyes. It’s the fact that there just have to be better options out there.

The only advantage Torreyes has over Refsnyder is his ability to handle shortstop. However, the team has the ability to slide second baseman Starlin Castro over to short to spell Gregorius whenever necessary and slot Refsnyder in at second base. Easy.

If the youth movement is going to prosper, it makes sense to give the spot to the one who can actually produce.