Ex-Yankees star breaks silence after top prospect gets his number
Yankees fans were undoubtedly excited when New York called up highly touted prospect Gleyber Torres for Sunday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Torres, who MLB.com ranks as the fifth-best prospect in baseball, started at second base and wore number 25. The last player who wore that number in pinstripes was former slugger Mark Teixeira.
Teixeira, a fantastic player in his own right, said Sunday he was glad to see the young prospect would be wearing his old number.
“I think it’s awesome that @TorresGleyber is wearing #25 for the @Yankees,” Teixeira tweeted. “I hope he becomes a star and millions buy his jerseys. Then when I see them in the stadium and on the streets I can tell people, ‘Look, another Tex jersey.'”
The 21-year-old Torres, meanwhile, was quiet in his debut, going 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
In the long term, though, the Yankees expect big things from him.
“Obviously, I think you all realize how much we value him as a player, short term certainly and for our future,” manager Aaron Boone told the New York Post. “(Bringing him up) is something we’ve had conversations about over the last week, about when would be the right time. We feel like he’s ready, he’s checked all the boxes.”
In 14 games this season for the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre Yankees, Torres hit .347 with a .903 OPS.
Torres said the extra time in Triple-A ball helped prepare him for his major league debut.
“I just got more at-bats, more time. In the minor leagues, I feel better and better. Every day, I felt more comfortable to start the season,” Torres said before Sunday’s game.
And all kidding aside, Teixeira, who now serves as an analyst for ESPN, is impressed with the youngster.
“Gleyber Torres is going to be an All-Star-caliber player,” Teixeira told Yes Network last year. “He’s going to be that game-changing talent that some people think he is.”
Teixeira retired in 2016 after eight seasons with the Yankees.
His best year in the Bronx was 2009, when he led the league in homers (39) and runs batted (122) and helped propel the Yankees to a World Series title. Teixeira hit over 30 home runs four times in New York and drove in at least 100 runs three times.
Texeira had some great years with the Texas Rangers too, especially 2005, when he hit 43 home runs and had 144 RBIs. In his 14-year major-league career, Teixeira hit 409 home runs and drove in 1,298 runs.
The Yankees can only hope Torres has as good a career as Teixeira.
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