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The Yankees May Have Found A New Version Of Luis Sojo

By Steve Contursi |
Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

The Yankees were, of course,  powered by the Core Four during the years that they won four World Championships in five years. But there was one underrated, and essential player on those teams who reminds of a player on the 2017 team who fits with the same credentials.

Yankees manager, Joe Torre, or maybe it was Brian Cashman I’m not sure, always found a way to have Luis Sojo as part of the teams they assembled during The Run in the late 1990’s. And there was a good reason for it.

Sojo was the guy that Torre trusted most when he was caught in a pinch to put in a game, and the same guy Torre knew he could start for two or three games in a row when someone needed a blow, and Sojo wouldn’t mess things up.

Sojo was the kind ballplayer who was spectacular at nothing, but good at everything. He played sparingly but never complained. He knew his role, and he accepted it. And along the way, he collected four rings for himself.

Most championship teams have someone like a Luis Sojo. And if they don’t, they soon find that they can’t get along without finding that jack-of-all-trades, does anybody even know I’m here, type of player.

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The 2017 Yankees are beginning to look like they may have their Luis Sojo in the person of Ronald Torreyes.

Didi Gregorius will not be out of the lineup forever. In fact, the team has said he will begin playing rehab games “soon.” Gregorius, when he returns, is the starting shortstop for the New York Yankees.

And when that day comes, everyone in the clubhouse is likely to walk over to Torreyes’s locker with a big smile that says, “Thank you for a job well done.” But most of all, it will be Joe Girardi who goes out of his way to seek out Torreyes because he’s the one who can look down the road with the knowledge that his job just became easier with the addition of Gregorius and Torreyes next to him on the bench.

Torreyes has hit .250 for what seems like the last two weeks. Hardly a few points up or down, he gets his 1-4 every day and occasionally does something very special to help the team. But mostly, he’s the guy that his manager has run out there every day since the season began with no hesitation required.

He’s also the guy that Girardi can run out there to give Chase Headley and Starlin Castro, both of whom have played all twelve of the Yankees games so far, a day or two off when the dog days of summer hit, or in the case of Headley who’s older even sooner.

Like Sojo, Ronald Torreyes may not continue to lead his team in RBI, but he will continue to lead his team

And Gregorius, when he returns, may or may not be able to resume a full schedule of playing duty as he builds his shoulder up and gets his timing back. Enter again, Mr. Torreyes.

Sojo was signed, released, resigned, and traded for any number of times during his stint with the Yankees. Torreyes could find himself in that position as well, possibly as soon as next season when Gleyber Torres and Tyler Wade potentially crowd the infield roster.

But somehow, the Yankees always managed to find a way to have Sojo on the team. And much like Sojo, Torreyes has that “feel good” thing going for him as the little guy that could. And he does.

For the next couple of weeks, though, the Yankees will be more than happy if Torreyes continues to make all the routine plays at shortstop (which he has) and collects his one hit a night that somehow always seems to translate into a run scored later or batted in, in a Yankees win.

Like Sojo, Ronald Torreyes may not continue to lead his team in RBI, but he will continue to lead his team.

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