Watch: Gleyber Torres Latest Yankee Not To Run Hard To First Base

Yankees shortstop Gleyber Torres has stunk up the field since Opening Day last year, and now he's not even hustling. Mind boggling, I know. Watch:

And here's what Torres had to say:

Gleyber Torres has hit three home runs in his last 220 plate appearances, and his transition from second base to shortstop has been a failed experiment. He's been utterly dismal at the dish while stinking up the joint with his glove, and now the Yankees can't rely on him to try hard? Good grief.

I tweeted a week ago about how important it was to see the Braves' best player Ronald Acuña running out an infield single, and this is why. Gleyber Torres is supposed to be one of the Yankees' "core" players, but he sets a poor example for his teammates. He doesn't care, though. His job somehow remains completely unaffected.

My point was that great players all the way down to the below-average Gleyber Torres of the world sometimes fail to show effort. We don't have to applaud a 90-foot sprint, but we should recognize the impact it can have. Torres, whose job is presumably safe, isn't working hard.

It's human nature to follow the example of those above you in the workplace. Whether we believe it or not, we follow the leadership of those above us.

So what should the Yankees do?

The only way for GM Brian Cashman or manager Aaron Boone to turn this around is to find players who need to win. Sure, Gleyber Torres wants to win games in pinstripes, but what's he willing to do to make it happen? He's shown he can't turn his bat around in over a year of game time, and he's proven that glove isn't improving either.

All that can arguably be turned around with more work, but nothing will change if he keeps up that lack of hustle. That can't be turned on and off. Torres simply moves around Yankee Stadium with no fear for his job when he hasn't earned that right on the field.

I hear comparisons to former Yankees star second baseman Robinson Cano, but did everyone forget Cano hit .300 with 30 homers every year? He played and worked his tail off to earn at least somewhat of a leash for the occasional lapse in effort.

Torres has done NOTHING since 2019 to make this tolerable. In other businesses, the least productive employees who don't work hard are fired, so why not here? If the Yankees want to start winning again, then they'll need to bench Torres and find someone else who can get it done. If Mr. Steinbrenner were still alive, Torres would be shipped out of town. It's time for ole Hal Steinbrenner to show off some of that winning DNA.