Should Ronald Torreyes Be an Everyday Starter for the Yankees?

Ronald Torreyes has been a very valuable bench player for the New York Yankees thus far in 2017. His production at the plate tells us that maybe he should be considered to be an everyday player.

When the New York Yankees completed a trade before the deadline with the Chicago White Sox which saw Todd Frazier, David Robertson, and Tommy Kahnle come to the Bronx, many fans assumed that the third base position would be primarily played by the Toddfather and Chase Headley.

However, Frazier has struggled to maintain any consistency at the dish while retaining his role as the starting third baseman. Via Baseball Reference, Frazier owns a .208 batting average.

While power hitters like Todd are not expected to hit for high averages, that’s well below his career average of .245 (Baseball Reference).

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Torreyes was more than a suitable substitute for second baseman Starlin Castro while he spent time on the disabled list. While not always the sharpest defender, his ability to hit to all fields and find holes has led him to own a solid on-base percentage of .321 (Baseball Reference).

Another thing to make note of is the incredible improvement we have seen from Toe offensively this year. His batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS are all higher than last season, with nearly twice the amount of plate appearances.

Torreyes will not provide the power that Frazier, or even Headley, will bring to an offense, which is a big downside. However, in a lineup that contains sluggers Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge, Starlin Castro, and now Greg Bird, Torreyes does not need to be relied on to drive in runs.

His job is to set the table for the run producers and keep innings alive at the bottom of the lineup, which he has done very well this year.

Torreyes has struck out only 39 times in over 280 plate appearances (12.8% of his at-bats end in a strikeout). While he has less official at-bats than them, his strikeout rate of 12.8% is lower than the likes of Francisco Lindor, Dee Gordon, and teammate Didi Gregorius (Team Rankings).

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He may not have as high of a ceiling offensively as those currently ahead of him on the depth chart, but his ability to provide consistency in a lineup that finds itself in need of it fairly often pegs the question: Is it time for Ronald Torreyes to be an everyday player in the Bronx?

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