We’ve fully forgotten 2020. It was a year New York Yankees fans really don’t need to remember.
Unfortunately, Gleyber Torres was among the reasons why. In his first “full” season as the team’s starting shortstop, he failed to impress defensively, got hurt in August, couldn’t find consistency with his bat, and was said to have shown up to summer camp “out of shape.”
General manager Brian Cashman dropped that last bomb on us weeks ago, and it certainly wasn’t a good look for the 24-year-old. Though 2020 was a confusing and trying year for just about everybody, there’s really no excuse for showing up out of shape weeks before the season is set to begin.
Though we’ve fully moved on from this and Torres is looking as good as ever at the onset of this year’s spring training, we can’t ignore how he recently contradicted his comments in response to Cashman’s claim that he wasn’t as spry as he’s normally been last year.
Last week, Torres spoke to the media at spring training and said, “The past is the past … I can’t control what people say,” which seemingly objected to Cashman.
Odd, right? Well, Torres appeared on the R2C2 Podcast this week (hosted by former Yankee CC Sabathia and broadcaster Ryan Ruocco) and seemingly contradicted his comments in response to Cashman. What’s going on?!
Yankees shortstop Gleyber Torres admitted he wasn’t in the best shape last year.
He admitted that his routine was thrown off by the pause when spring training was shut down and said he wasn’t in the greatest shape heading into summer camp. As a result, he changed his diet (eliminated junk food) and examined film in the offseason to help refine his defense. That’s awesome!
But why have that response to Cashman only to validate what he said a week later? Seems bizarre.
Nonetheless, 2020 is forgotten. It was a wash for everybody. And Gleyber is now well on his way to redeeming himself. He has a big year ahead of him since he’ll need to prove his worth as the Yankees’ shortstop of the future.
It’s clear he’s heard what Cashman had to say, and he’s responding accordingly. That’s all you can ask for, really.
Yankees: Gleyber Torres doesn’t sound happy with Cashman’s fitness comments
New York Yankees infielder Gleyber Torres doesn't exactly sound thrilled with Brian Cashman's assertion he wasn't in shape last year.