Gleyber Torres’ ‘special’ late-season Yankees resurgence carrying over into ALDS

Gleyber Torres’ second-half turnaround did not stop with the end of the regular season.

The second baseman continued to be a force at the top of the Yankees lineup in Game 1 of the ALDS, reaching base three times and hitting a two-run homer to the short porch in Saturday’s win over the Royals.

“Seeing how he turned around his season in the last couple months was so special,” utilityman Oswaldo Cabrera said Sunday, an off-day before Game 2. “That’s the Gleyber that we know. That’s the Gleyber that every time he comes to the plate, we know that he’s going to do something. The way that he showed the last couple months … that he’s not done, everything is not done yet. He shows every time, every plate appearance shows the things that he can do that are so special for all the team.”

The pending free agent has been playing like he is no longer in his own head over the last few months.

After batting .215 with a .628 OPS over his first 80 games through June 25, he finished the season batting .298 with a .786 OPS over his final 74 games while reemerging as a critical piece as the Yankees leadoff hitter.

That continued Saturday, when in addition to the homer, he drew two walks and saw a total of 29 pitches across four plate appearances.

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“I feel comfortable,” Torres said. “I know I’ve got amazing guys behind me, so I don’t have to do too much right now. Just go to home plate, follow my plan. If I don’t have anything to hit or something, I can get a walk and pass the baton for [Juan] Soto and [Aaron] Judge and all those guys.”

Aaron Boone had felt that Torres’ swing decisions continued to be sharp even when he was not getting results in the first half of the season.

But now that Torres is long past that skid, his manager believes he may be better off for it.

“He’s certainly been through a lot this year,” Boone said. “Some of the struggles certainly in the first half of the season, to be able to persevere from that, I always think those are valuable things to go through and add to your experience bag and hopefully continue to push you to be a well-rounded player. All I can say is I feel like he’s in a really good headspace and obviously playing at a really high level for us.”

Before Game 1, Boone had described the left field situation as fluid.

But on Sunday, he confirmed that Alex Verdugo, not surprisingly, has earned himself another start Monday after delivering two key defensive plays and reaching base three times Saturday, including the go-ahead single.

Nestor Cortes (left elbow flexor strain) played catch Sunday for the first time since a 10-day shutdown near the end of the regular season.

It happened while Boone was speaking with reporters, so he did not yet have an update on how it went, but Cortes is hoping the ramp-up allows him to be an option out of the bullpen later in October.

“He’s not throwing to not potentially be an option, so we’ll see,” Boone said.