{"id":87796,"date":"2024-10-16T23:38:13","date_gmt":"2024-10-17T03:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=87796"},"modified":"2024-10-16T23:38:40","modified_gmt":"2024-10-17T03:38:40","slug":"gleyber-torres-rediscovered-form-postseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/10\/16\/gleyber-torres-rediscovered-form-postseason\/","title":{"rendered":"Yankees Veteran Rediscovering His Form at the Best Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gleyber Torres<\/a> of the New York Yankees has found the best version of himself at the opportune time: the postseason. In the regular season, it was one of Torres’ worst as a big leaguer. After being one of the 20 worst-qualified hitters<\/a> by wOBA through August, he has been one of the best since September. A strong October finish is crucial for Torres as he will hit free agency at the season’s end.<\/p>\n

Gleyber Torres Rediscovering His Form at the Best Time<\/h2>\n

What Changed?<\/h3>\n

The most significant difference for Torres this season has been the dearth of power.\u00a0 An important aspect that has sustained itself despite Torres’ prolonged struggles<\/a> is a lower strikeout rate.\u00a0 Even in a down season, he was still an above-league-average hitter with a 104 wRC+. The bulk of the lack of production can be attributed to an across-the-board regression in contact quality.\u00a0 His swing decision metrics are largely pretty similar as well as the batted ball profile.\u00a0 However, it could be notable that his pull rate has been declining for many years now. This may be a part of a shift in approach to spray the ball more, but his batting average did not rise as a result in 2024.<\/p>\n

An assumption could be made regarding this late surge that his quality of contact reverted back to previous norms.\u00a0 That was not the case in September, but they have been elevated in October.\u00a0 This season, Torres has shown the most balanced batted ball directions of his career.\u00a0 In the postseason, Torres has displayed a career-high in percentage of batted balls to the opposite field.\u00a0 The difference in how those opposite-field batted balls performed in the regular season versus the postseason is interesting.\u00a0 It can likely be chalked up to randomness and fun with a small sample size, or perhaps something mechanically helped unlock more production.<\/p>\n

Opposite Field Approach<\/h3>\n

Here are some statistics on how Torres’ opposite field batted balls performed in the regular season versus the postseason:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nRegular Season<\/span><\/td>\nPostseason<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
wOBA<\/span><\/td>\n.309<\/span><\/td>\n.424<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
xwOBA<\/span><\/td>\n.287<\/span><\/td>\n.488<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hard Hit%<\/span><\/td>\n29.7%<\/span><\/td>\n55.6%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Barrel%<\/span><\/td>\n3.9%<\/span><\/td>\n22.2%<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
BABIP<\/span><\/td>\n.253<\/span><\/td>\n.250<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

It is fascinating to see the quality of contact difference with this approach. Furthermore, while the BABIP on balls to the opposite field<\/a> is generally a tad lower than the traditional .300,\u00a0 Torres is still seemingly getting unlucky on his balls in play. Comparatively, he has not had much success when pulling the ball in the postseason, with just a .209 wOBA. This defies the normal thesis of pulling the ball for more production and power. However, with the short porch at Yankee Stadium, sometimes you just need to poke one out to right field.\u00a0 Torres’ lone home run of the postseason was a Yankee Stadium special.<\/p>\n

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Gleyber Torres finds the short porch for a go-ahead home run! pic.twitter.com\/Lp1bJHXaS1<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Talkin\u2019 Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) October 5, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n