Two weeks ago a scout was asked what he thought about Gleyber Torres.
“I’ve heard people mention him in relation to [Robinson] Cano but that’s not fair to [Torres],’’ the scout said of the 21-year-old Yankees second baseman who has started his big-league career with a loud buzz.
The scout was talking about Torres at the plate. However, this past weekend scouts who watched Torres in the field said they saw some of Cano’s traits in him.
“He has similar throwing actions and a real strong arm. He looks smooth and can go both ways for ground balls. Cano has always been better going toward second base than first,’’ the scout said.
Cano left Sunday’s Mariners game with a fractured bone in his right hand.
When the Yankees promoted Torres on April 22 they had been using Tyler Wade, Ronald Torreyes and Neil Walker at second. Torres, a shortstop throughout his minor league career (330 games in five seasons), immediately took to the other side of second base where he had played in 41 minor league games including three at Triple-A this season.
“He has been really good,’’ general manager Brian Cashman said of Torres. “He has impacted significantly at second.’’
Playing in 20 big-league games doesn’t deliver a finished product and a talent evaluator noticed areas in Torres’ game that need to be tightened up.
“He is still learning in the big leagues, there are some things to work on like footwork. Right now his arm makes up for that,’’ the scout said. “He hasn’t played a lot of second but he looks like he has a good understanding of the game, looks like a smart kid and anticipates.’’
As for Torres at the plate, the scout was impressed with the right-hander hitter who is batting .319 and had a nine-game hitting streak stopped Saturday when he went 0-for-5.
“He seems to know the strike zone. He would be hitting fifth or sixth for a lot of teams,’’ the scout said of Torres, who has hit ninth in 15 of 20 games, eighth four times and seventh once.
The Yankees’ pitching has been given a lot of credit for the 19-3 record in the past 22 games entering Tuesday night’s action against the Nationals. And one area they have excelled at is pitching with runners in scoring position.
After Sunday’s game, Yankee pitchers had held opponents to a .147 (23-for-156) average with runners in scoring position during those games.
As of Monday, Yankee pitchers were second among AL teams with a .213 average against with runners in scoring position. Their .163 average with two outs was tops in the league.
First baseman Greg Bird and outfielder Billy McKinney had their minor league rehab assignments transferred to Double-A Trenton from Single-A Tampa.
Bird (ankle surgery) played in three games for Tampa and went 2-for-8 (.250) with two RBIs. McKinney went 2-for-8 with three RBIs in three games.
It’s possible the left-handed hitting Bird could come off the DL when the Yankees open a six-game homestand against the Angels on May 25.
