NEW YORK — Walking slowly and staring down to the ground, Gleyber Torres returned to the Yankees clubhouse after a post-game shower to dress and then publicly address his latest misery-filled showing.
This 0-for-4 with a walk in a Yankees’ 9-7 loss to the Mets on tuesday night at Citi Field included two strikeouts, one with the bases loaded and nobody out in the first inning facing left-hander David Peterson. On his last at-bat, Torres didn’t even bother to run out his two-out groundball to shortstop right after Aaron Judge hit a grand slam to make it a game.
His second-base play was dreadful again, too. When the Mets were opening the flood gates in the sixth scoring three to go up 9-1, Torres let a run in when an infield-in, first-and-third grounder right at him rolled under his glove for a boot.
What happened there?
“Nothing,” Torres said. “I just missed it.”
That “nothing” was Torres’ 12th error. No other Major League second baseman has more than nine.
After Torres owned up to adding another bad chapter to a bad season that has reached the halfway point with his average down to a career-worst .215, he headed for a clubhouse exit only to be stopped by his manager.
“GT,” Aaron Boone called out from a hallway with a hand single to walk his way.
Torres and Boone then disappeared into the manager’s office for a post-game talk.
There, Boone presumably told Torres that he’s being benched for Wednesday night’s Subway Series finale when the slumping Yankees try to avoid losing a fourth series in a row and fifth in their last six.
A few minutes earlier, Boone danced around a question on whether Torres would sit or start.
“Ah … he and I will talk,” Boone said. “We’ll see.”
Torres’ lack of hustle, which has been an occasional issue over the years, was blamed on right groin tightness. He was forced out of last Thursday’s 17-5 home loss to the Orioles after five innings when it first cropped up, but he played the next three days, rested up on Monday’s off day and then was back playing Tuesday.
“My groin is a little bit tight right now,” Torres said when he was asked about not running out his groundball. “On that at-bat, I felt it a little bit more, so I just shut it down.”
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If Torres can’t run, should he be playing in the first place?
“He and I have talked about that,” Boone said. “There are certainly spots where he’s being a little bit careful with it, but he’s obviously important to what we’re doing, especially right now. We need meat in the middle of that lineup.”
And that’s why the Yankees say they want Torres in the lineup. After Juan Soto and Judge in the two and three holes, there is a lack of “meat” with Anthony Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton on the injured list, DJ LeMahieu hitting .174 and Alex Verdugo 0-for-his-last 19 and 2-for-31 since his three-hit, four-RBI return to Boston two Fridays ago.
“One of his calling cards throughout his career has been how well he handles left-handed pitching,” Boone said. “As we go through this stretch where we’re facing a lot of lefties with guys down — (Stanton) just went down — we need Gleyber to be a presence in the middle of our lineup. We’ve got to get that out of him.”
The Mets did line up two lefty starters to face the Yankees, Peterson for the opener and Sean Manaea on Wednesday night, but Torres’ alleged track record is a myth.
This year, Torres has been poor against all pitching and actually worse against lefties, .209 to .217. For his career, he owns a slightly better batting average against left-handers, .267 to .261.
Watching Torres, it’s sometimes hard to believe he’s the same player who hit .271 with 24 homers in 123 games as a rookie in 2018, then mashed 38 homers the next while batting .278 and driving in 90. He was an All-Star both years.
After two down seasons, Torres rebounded by putting up good numbers in 2022 and 2023. He was one of the Yankees’ most consistent hitters last season, batting .273 with 25 homers and 68 RBI in 158 games.
But this year Torres started out 4-for-23 in the Yankees’ first six games and then mostly hovered around .220.
This isn’t bad luck. His exit velocity is a career-low 88.3 mph.
His fielding has been a problem, too. He messes up routine plays far more than everyone else on the team combined. On June 7, he was nonchalant on a popup that he dropped with his glove near his waist in a 2-1 Yankees loss to the Dodgers at Yankee Stadium.
“After the popup, it’s been a lot of really good defense that no one ever asks about,” Boone said. “But (Tuesday’s grounder) is a play he’s got to make. It’s as simple as that. It happened.”
It happens too often. His .960 fielding percentage is the lowest among any starter at his position in the majors and a big drop from his last season’s .975, which was a big drop from his .985 in 2022.
With the 2024 season exactly half over, Torres was asked how he judges his play.
“You tell me,” Torres said. " I think it’s bad. I have to figure out getting better. I’m working really hard.”
Torres then was asked what’s disappointed him most about his season.
“Everything,” he said.
Torres gave a more detailed answer when he was reminded that he’s had some really good years, then asked how he’s mentally handling his struggles, which are occurring in his walk year to free agency.
“It’s not easy,” Torres said. “I know I can do a better job right now. But it is what it is. I think the past season (with success) is already played. I’m just focusing on this season and doing adjustments. I’m trying to do the right things.”
Torres says the same thing every time he does an interview after a bad game. He should be doing everything he can because the Yankees are paying him $14.2 million this year. That computes to $87,654.32 per game.
His hard work isn’t fixing anything though. He’s getting worse with experience instead of better in what should be the prime of his career. He’s only 27.
In Tuesday’s game, Torres might have lost focus in the field after striking out in his first two at-bats. That might be happening a lot actually, not that Torres ever would admit it.
“I hope not,” Boone said.
The Yankees’ hope now is for Torres to have a better second half that probably will start with the benching. After that, more struggles might convince GM Brian Cashman to add someone more reliable before the July 30 trade deadline.
For now though, the Yankees’ public stance is that Torres is their second baseman.
“We’ve got to get him going,” Boone said.
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Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com.
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