Constructing the perfect Yankees lineup for 2021 season

Batting Second: Gleyber Torres, SS

Can the Yankees get away with batting Gleyber Torres second?

I understand this is a controversial spot for Torres, but allow me to explain my rationale: He’s quite possibly the Yankees’ second-best pure hitter behind LeMahieu when he chooses to display those bat-to-ball skills instead of selling out for power.

And, as most fans know by now, the power is more likely to actually show up if the player in questions is not selling out on its behalf.

In reality, this is probably Aaron Hicks’ position in the order until he proves otherwise, but Hicks himself has admitted in recent weeks that his elbow hasn’t felt right since his 2019 Tommy John surgery, and I’d rather give him lower-leverage opportunities to revitalize the bottom of the lineup, rather than presenting him with this primo position day in and day out.

Torres is an elite hitter, and he needs to be put in a position to succeed. I’d rather he operate more like the Torres of old in ’21, spraying line drive singles into the right-center gap to keep the pitcher honest, and using all corners of the field to make himself known. He’s more likely to look to do that early in the game if he’s batting ahead of the Yankees’ powerful triumvirate and not behind them. From his current perch in the sixth hole, Torres has become far too eager to clean up the cleanup spot’s power mistakes, swinging from his heels in the wake of, say, a strikeout spree from Judge/Stanton/Voit. Not in my perfect lineup, he won’t. Let’s have Torres get back to basics from the second spot.