The Detroit Tigers hoped second baseman Gleyber Torres would be a sort of handyman on the roster—someone who could do the dirty work.
Acquired as a free agent on Dec. 27, 2024, Torres had come from a clean-cut culture with the New York Yankees. He was a made man — clean-shaven and wore the pinstripes with recognition.
Torres was reliable at the plate. There was some real pop in his bat — belting 138 homers in seven seasons.
The fielding was spotty from Torres, but for the Tigers, it was something more established than Colt Keith. Second base needed fixin’. Detroit signed Torres to a one-year, $15 million deal.
50+ games into 2025, Torres leads the team in batting average and has made only one error. He’s been slotted at designated hitter for several starts, but DH has been the new home for Keith.
What makes Torres such a good addition is that he embodies what manager AJ Hinch and the Detroit team have been trying to become. Tiger players are trained to make the most of their at-bats — work the count, only swing at pitches that can be efficiently put into play.
Keith was a player the Tigers wanted to invest in quickly because of his hard contact at the plate. Before he stepped into the batter’s box in a major league game, Detroit extended the then-22-year-old infielder. His deal is worth $28.6425 million over six years, with the potential for it to be worth up to $82 million over nine years.
Torres had experience in a large market. There was intrigue before the start of the season, and it has proved to be a massive pick-up for a Tigers team that ranked in the bottom half in runs scored during the previous season.
Out of all players with at least 25 walks, four have over a 1.0 BB/SO ratio. As of Thursday night, it’s the Cubs’ Kyle Tucker, D-Backs’ Geraldo Perdomo, Dodgers’ Mookie Betts, and Torres.
The 28-year-old Torres is also 19th among qualified batters with a 68.9% Out of Zone Contact Percentage, according to Baseball Savant. So when he swings at something he probably knows is a ball, he makes sure he puts the lumber on it.
Now, what makes that more impressive is that Torres swings at balls out of the zone just 15.6% of the time. Out of 167 qualified players according to Baseball Savant, he’s 166th.
Torres doesn’t miss much, either. When he swings and misses at balls out of the zone, it’s only 31.1% — 148th on the list.
Who is No. 1 at swinging and missing at balls out of the strike zone? Torres’ former teammate and Yankees superstar Aaron Judge — 68.6%.
So, what does moving on from the most successful baseball franchise in history get you?
A new gig with the hottest gang in the MLB.
At the end of 2024, the Tigers were blazing for the last six weeks. They carried momentum into October and defeated the Astros in a two-game series, but then fell to Cleveland in five games. Something told them that a proven contact hitter at second base was needed. Torres — and many Tigers fans — might now ask themselves this question: “Am I happier in Detroit?”
New York could be fine with Jazz Chisholm Jr. and his higher likelihood of hitting a 314-foot, Wiffle Ball home run to right field at Yankee Stadium. Torres gives more value to a team like the Tigers. They brought him in and made him their own.
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