One of the best young players in baseball is third-year Yankees infielder Gleyber Torres, and he’s a legitimate candidate to win MVP this year. Here are two props available to wager at Mybookie on Torres’ 2020 MLB season – assuming there is one – and an overview.
Gleyber Torres MLB Awards Odds & Analysis For 2020 Season
- Most home runs of any batter: Torres is +3000
- AL MVP Award: Torres is +1200 third-favorite
In late July 2016, the Yankees traded star closer Aroldis Chapman to the Chicago Cubs for a package of players that was led by the Cubs’ top prospect in Torres. That deal worked out well for the Cubs at the time as Chapman helped them end their epic World Series drought in 2016 but then left in free agency and re-signed with the Yankees. Now it looks like a one-sided deal with how good Torres has become.
Last year, Torres hit a career-high 38 homers, tied with second baseman Alfonso Soriano (38 HR in 2003) for second-most by a middle infielder in team history (min. 50% of G at 2B/SS), behind only Soriano (39 HR in 2002).
At 22, Torres was is the youngest Yankee to have 30 homers in a season behind only Joe DiMaggio. His 90 RBIs were the most by a Yankee in a season at age 22-or-younger since Mickey Mantle had 102RBI in 1954.
Torres last year had a Major League-high eight multi-HR games, matching the most by a Yankee in a single season (also Alex Rodriguez, Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth). Torres became the youngest player in Major League history to record eight multi-HR games in one season. Torres also hit 20 dingers at home, becoming the sixth player (eighth time) to hit 20 HR in a season at the current Yankee Stadium. He was named to his second career AL All-Star team (also 2018).
Since the start of the 2018 season, no other MLB player has hit more three-run homers than Torres’ 13. Twenty-one of Torres’ career 62 homers have either tied the game or given the Yankees a lead.
In the 2019 playoffs, Torres became is the only player age 22 or younger in American League history to hit three home runs in a single postseason.
If there is one negative in his two big league seasons, Torres has rated as a well-below-average baserunner. He is 11 for 15 (73 percent) stealing bases but there is more to baserunning than stealing bases. Torres has made 16 outs on the bases the last two years, one of the highest totals in baseball,
Still, Torres, who turned 23 in December, is already on a path toward a remarkable career.
“I think he’s appreciated around the game as a great player,’’ manager Aaron Boone said. “I’m really proud of the continued strides I’ve seen with him since he got called up. He was an impact player for us right away and…I feel like he’s met every challenge and become a more polished and well-rounded player at a young age.’’
With the Yankees losing shortstop Didi Gregorius in free agency this offseason, Torres will play short every day in 2020. Torres had a mildly disappointing spring at the plate — he hit .200/.241/.360 with a home run and six RBI in 29 plate appearances — but defense was his primary struggle as he committed five errors in 23 total chances. Torres said he has kept in touch with Gregorius, taking tips from the team’s in an attempt to solidify his own mechanics on the field.
The Yankees, for a variety of reasons, had little interest in bringing back Gregorius, their shortstop of the previous five years. The position is not unfamiliar for Torres. Besides coming up through the minors primarily at shortstop, Torres played more games there last season (77) than second base (65 games) because Gregorius missed the first two-plus months of the season while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
