MINNEAPOLIS — Good moments have been hard to come by for Gleyber Torres early this season.
But when he has had them, the Yankees second baseman has been doused with palpable relief each time.
There was the clutch three-run double against the Brewers on April 27, after which Torres said, “Finally I do something for the team,” and that he was going to get a good night’s rest because of it.
It did not quite serve as the springboard he and the Yankees hoped it might, so there was Torres again on Sunday at Tropicana Field, after crushing a three-run home run that helped ice the win over the Rays, sounding and looking like someone who had just taken a deep breath for the first time in a while.
“I don’t know what’s going to [happen] the next game, but for tonight, especially in that moment, it feels good,” Torres said. “That homer, I feel like I did something for the team to be part of the team. You see right now everybody gets some singles, homers. Just waiting for my moment. I got it and I feel happy.”
As Torres acknowledged, it was just one game.
In between his best two moments of the season, there were more rough at-bats and defensive gaffes in the field, making it look like his poor start — and that it was coming in his walk year — might be getting to Torres.
Entering Tuesday’s series against the Twins, Torres was batting just .208 with a 62 OPS-plus, 38 percent below league average.
The 27-year-old indicated Sunday he had been feeling the weight of his slow start, though he has repeatedly said he is not getting caught up in worrying about his looming free agency.
The fact is Torres, as polarizing a player as he may be, was the Yankees’ most consistent healthy hitter last season.
He cut down on his strikeouts, increased his walks and hit .273 with a 118 OPS-plus.
There was always another level for him to reach defensively, but if his bat was providing the impact it did in 2023, it was easier to live with the lapses in the field.
And yet, Torres has largely struggled in both areas through the first month and a half of this season.
There have been reminders of his talent — including making a nice pick on a hard one-hopper in the first inning of Sunday’s game before finishing it with his second homer of the year — but understandably, his confidence has seemed to wane on the whole.
“Gleyber, he’s been grinding a little bit,” Jose Trevino said. “We know that, he knows that. But for him to hit that homer, that’s huge. Not only for us, but for himself. Maybe get some confidence. He’s been taking some good at-bats and good passes at baseballs. Finally we get one in a big spot, that’s huge.”
The at-bat that resulted in the home run was encouraging.
Torres fell behind 0-2 before fouling two pitches off and taking a pair of balls. Then he crushed a cutter at the top of the zone, and before it landed in the left-field seats, nearly half of the Yankees’ dugout had spilled out onto the field in celebration for Torres.
“For that reason, I always say this is home,” Torres said. “It’s more than teammates, it’s family. The relationships I have here are amazing. Especially in this moment, everybody is with me right now.”
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The struggles have not been for a lack of work. Torres has frequently been out on the field or in the cage early to take extra work on his swing.
The focus, as manager Aaron Boone indicated earlier in the weekend, seemed to be quieting some of Torres’ extra movement in the box.
Boone admitted he was “a little surprised” that Torres had gone into such an extended slump, but continued to express confidence that he would get back on track before long.
“After a homer, you feel great,” Torres said. “But it’s a lot of work to do. So enjoy the night, and the next game in Minnesota, just try to figure out a way to do something for the team again.”