Yankees benching Gleyber Torres for ‘a couple of days’ amid nightmare season

In a move that arose from a series of factors — part performance, part disciplinary, part an acknowledgment that continuing to play every day has not worked — the Yankees have temporarily benched Gleyber Torres. 

Torres, whose spiral of a season intensified in an all-around poor game Tuesday, was out of the starting lineup Wednesday for the Subway Series finale with the Mets at Citi Field.

He likely will miss at least Thursday’s series opener in Toronto, as well, Aaron Boone saying he would give his everyday second baseman “a couple of days here just to reset.” 

“Felt like he needs it,” the Yankees manager said before Torres was set to miss his second game of the season. “I just think he’s too important, and a guy that I’m confident we’ll get going.” 

Torres has not gotten going through his first 80 games, entering Wednesday’s game with a .215 batting average that was the 14th-worst among all MLB qualifiers.

He began the season with a career .789 OPS, which has fallen to .628.

His glove has been about as poor as his bat, his 12 errors the most by any second baseman this season and a missed grounder costing the Yankees a run Tuesday. 

His hustle, too, disappointed Tuesday when he failed to run out a softly hit ground ball in the eighth inning that might have been a close play if he had run hard. 

After the game, Torres blamed a groin that had forced him from a game last week and which grew tight, he said. Boone called Torres into his office after the loss and talked with the 27-year-old.

According to Boone, Torres’ groin issue is not “too significant.” 

Boone slept on it, called Torres on Wednesday morning and alerted him of the plan to take a break. The lack of hustle played into the decision. 

“That’s one of the things that got my attention, certainly,” said Boone, who painted it as more of a respite than a punishment. 

Boone tried the same strategy with Anthony Rizzo about two weeks ago, removing the slumping first baseman from the lineup for a pair of games in hopes that Rizzo could turn off his brain and be fresher on the other side of the benching.

Soon upon returning, Rizzo sustained a fractured forearm. 

With Torres, there is reason to wonder whether his mind has been getting in the way of his game.

He has spent his first seven major league seasons with the Yankees and has been open in stating he would like to remain in The Bronx.

Torres is set to hit free agency this offseason, and the Yankees already have made it clear that retaining Juan Soto will be their top priority. 

This was not the contract year that Torres might have envisioned. 

“Sometimes your brain needs to get out of the way a little bit,” Boone said of Torres, who was out of the lineup on a night the Mets tossed a lefty (Sean Manaea), against whom the righty hitter normally would line up well. 

Oswaldo Cabrera played second base and batted ninth, with DJ LeMahieu getting the start at third base. 

Boone said Torres respected the decision. Torres himself on Tuesday said his first half has “been bad,” and “everything” has been disappointing in his game thus far. 

The particular timing of this prolonged slump, too, is likely disappointing. The Yankees have lost Rizzo and Giancarlo Stanton, which has placed a greater weight on the shoulders of players such as Torres. 

Before the benching, Torres was just 2-for-29 in his past nine games. 

“The thing is, he’s been working really hard,” Boone said. “Sometimes a little mental blow can go a long way.”