Yankees: Four Ways Joe Girardi Has Hit All The High Notes

Who’s My Shortstop?

When Didi Gregorius went down while playing in the World Baseball Tournament, Girardi had a host of players to choose from the pool Cashman had given him. That, in itself, created a problem, especially with one of those players being the elephant in the room in Gleyber Torres, who easily won the fans vote putting pressure on both Cashman and Girardi.

Girardi knew his GM’s plan for Torres, and he pretty much let Cashman handle the Torres thing with the media while he concentrated on the other players at hand.

That pool included Tyler Wade, Miguel Andujar, Rob Refsnyder, and a lightweight named Ronald Torreyes. The early bets came in for Refsnyder based on Girardi’s penchant for experience,  especially for a middle infield position.

Then, when Wade and Andujar began to make their presence known as they received their playing time, the bets were evenly split between the two.

In the end, though, Girardi surprised everyone when he tagged a five-foot-five, 150 lb Ronald Torreyes over them all. Since then, of course, there has been no looking back despite the fact that both Andujar and Wade are tearing it up in the minors.

Torreyes has proven to be steady not only in the field but with his bat as well. In fact, it wasn’t until last night that someone moved ahead of him in RBI’s for the team.

What happens when Gregorius returns is another matter, however, and Girardi will be faced with the task of making another decision. He’ll figure it out, though, and it’s a safe bet that Torreyes will remain as an integral part of the team moving forward.