Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:’CJ4bdFkcQ-hFjOfIo7C-MQ’,sig:’s8GxGlFBXja6esWaCAsGCh5NeF7c6lA_wfqGhH0nfFY=’,w:’594px’,h:’396px’, items:’1434554876′,caption: true ,tld:’com’,is360: false })}); Gleyber Torres, whose performance finally recovered last year, also delivered impressive results in the first 10 games of this season. In addition to a batting rate close to 40%, there is also a slugging rate of more than 70%. All this is due to the successful adjustment of Torres’ attack strategy, which strikes a balance between the free flow and the foresight attack strategy. (↑The picture shows a list of Torres’ career batting data) From the analysis in the picture, it can be seen that Torres was very active when he first entered the major leagues. The swing rate against bad balls is as high as 35%. However, his excellent hitting ability keeps his performance at a certain high level, especially his patient hitting strategy after two strikes, which often gives people a mature feeling that surpasses rookies of the same age. This also allowed him to remain high in the first two years of his major league career. However, in the 2020 and 2021 seasons, the proportion of Torres attacking bad balls has dropped by about 10% in a straight line. For most hitters, it may be a good thing to improve ball selection by reducing the chance of chasing bad balls and getting more opportunities to attack good balls. For Torres, the attack strategy tends to be conservative, but it seems to be based on a forward-looking attack mode. Although the bad ball was selected, it failed to make a destructive attack on the ball in the strike zone, but often formed a ground ball or a small fly ball. In his first two years in the major leagues, Torres’ ground ball percentages were 32.8% and 37.2%, respectively. In the two seasons he tried to adjust his hitting strategy, it rose to 41%. However, increased attack on bad balls means more chances of swinging. Torres responded by increasing his resistance to change. During the interview, Torres mentioned that he was preparing for the classics in his hometown of Venezuela during the off-season this year. He mentioned that pitchers in the league have very mature change balls, and the chances of attacking him with straight balls have gradually decreased in recent years. As a result, Torres specifically trains for attacking changeups. From the performance point of view, when Torres faced breaking balls this year, Whiff% was only 12.9%, and XWOBA.401 were the best performances in his career. When he is actively attacking incoming balls outside the strike zone, his Contact% for bad balls is as high as 77.8%. Compared with all seasons in his career, he has improved by more than 10%, which is the key to his ability to maintain his excellent performance. Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:’nsFGkKxDRRx1CaVeY69ZQA’,sig:’iAyxj-fSVqK17KrDy2ph3QkvXJC8RIS14f9Mu6kHhzA=’,w:’594px’,h:’396px’,items: ‘1402383393’,caption: true ,tld:’com’,is360: false })}); In addition to attack selection, the direction of hitting the ball is also a very important part of Torres’ attack pattern. Gleyber Torres was often compared to Derek Jeter when he first came to the big leagues. However, unlike Jeter’s stability, Torres’ attacks in the opposite direction often seem to be ineffective. Esteban Rivera from Pinstripe Alley once said in an analysis article on Torres that Torres’ destructive power in hitting is closely related to his reverse hitting ratio. Because a large number of reverse-direction hits means that Torres’s usual hitting mechanism has not escaped, and he can stably produce strong reverse-direction flat fly balls, which will naturally lead to good results. The article also cites Torres’ reverse batting ratio and wRC+ data in each month of the 2022 season as an example, which indeed shows that when Torres can play his best counter swing, he can exert better strike firepower. So far this year, Torres’ pull-and-play ratio is only 28.6%, which is not only the lowest in history, but also at least 10% less than other seasons. Instead, he has the highest reverse batting percentage of his career, and that’s reflected in his stellar start to the season. In addition to the adjustments and improvements in the strike zone, Torres also has a different performance in the base running. This year, the major leagues have implemented new rules, increasing the size of the bases and narrowing the distance between bases in disguise. Before this season, Torres was not considered a strong threat between the bases. The most stolen bases in a single season in his career was about 15 times. But under the strong indoctrination of the Yankees between the bases coach Matt Talarico, the Yankees have adopted a more aggressive base running strategy this season, and Torres is no exception. So far this year’s season, he has achieved 5 successful base steals, and the number has come to half of last year’s season. Aaron Judge also had some unique observations about the team’s younger brother: “He has a great grasp of the strike zone. When the pitcher misses, he can do damage with the best swing. Be aggressive when hitting, on the I have a thorough understanding of my attacking patterns, and I have a clear grasp of the number of balls on the field. I have enjoyed watching him play so far this season.” Aaron Judge almost completely presents the improvement of Torres this season. Gleyber Torres’ real success is to maintain the ability to select the ball without rushing under the aggressive attack strategy, understand his own hitting pattern and produce more hitting attacks in the opposite direction. Torres may not have much time left with the Yankees, but hopefully, before he hits free agency, we’ll be able to see him truly transform, or rediscover, the kind of player we thought he was going to be the No. 1 rookie.
