Gleyber Torres Was Exactly What the Detroit Tigers Needed

There was no secret around the league as to what the Detroit Tigers needed last winter. A lineup stacked with lefty bats needed a righty stick to help balance the order and protect against tough southpaws. Fans, and the front office, had an interest in Alex Bregman before he ultimately decided to sign with Boston.

However, the Tigers were not left empty-handed. Prior to the Bregman decision, Detroit inked Gleyber Torres on a one-year, $15 million deal to play second, moving Colt Keith to first. A solid move, but hardly one many were expecting to have as large of an impact as we have seen it have through the first two months.

Torres was the secondary story to Bregman’s sweepstakes, and the Tigers added him because Spencer Torkelson wasn’t seen as a roster staple. Fast forward a few months, and each has over a 130 wRC+ and has been a huge player in Detroit’s success.

Missing out on Bregman, especially after enduring the months and months of daily rumors, was a letdown. But the addition of Torres has quickly eased that pain and helped the Tigers to become one of the best teams in the sport.

Stats updated prior to games on June 5.

What’s Behind Torres’ Hot Start?

Personally, I always thought Torres’ time with the Yankees was a bit underappreciated. After posting 38 home runs in his sophomore year, the famous 2019 with unique baseballs, Torres was expected to be the next big thing in New York.

Despite never reaching those heights again, Torres was consistently an above-average bat and a good baseball player. That’s not enough for New York.

Torres’ addition to the Tigers came as a surprise due to him playing the same position as Keith. He was not on most Tigers fans’ radars, but he has come in and fit like a glove. A .270/.383/.404 slash, five home runs, four stolen bases and a 131 wRC+ is flirting will All-Star-caliber play.

I’m not sure if the change in organization was simply a welcomed change of scenery or if the Tigers have encouraged Torres to focus on what he does best – contact over power – but whatever the change is, it’s working.

Torres has bought into the own-the-strike-zone mentality to a tee. His 14.5% walk rate and only 11.2% strikeout rate are both career bests. An 84.9% in-zone contact rate and only 15.5% chase rate are also high marks for his career. In fact, these numbers rank among the best in baseball.

The improved contact and eye for the zone are not exactly the Tigers’ workings, but a continuing trend for Torres over the past three seasons. Obviously, swinging at fewer pitches out of the zone is always a good thing. But, not chasing will also make pitchers work back into counts and often times rely on their fastball, a pitch that Torres does most of his damage on.

So far this season, Torres has a .311 average, .466 slugging percentage, and an average exit velocity of 93.1 mph off velocity. All but one of his home runs have come off fastballs. This type of production is not new, either. Last season, he hit .294 on fastballs, and in 2023, he hit .290. In that season, 21 of his 25 home runs came off fastballs.

Not only is Torres making elite contact, but he’s also combining that contact with more favorable launch angles, specifically on fastballs. He’s almost doubled his barrel rate (11.5%), but a huge difference has been in his attack angles.

I know this might seem too in the weeds or fishing for something, but ideal attack angle percentage measures the rate at which a player’s attack angle falls between five and twenty degrees, which often leads to the best results. Against fastballs, Torres has swung at an ideal attack angle 62.2% of the time, compared to only 50% last season.

So, to return to human words instead of stats, Torres’ elite ability to not chase out of the zone has led to him seeing more favorable pitches in the zone, allowing him to make more swings on pitches he can do damage on.

This level of play and the type of hitter we are seeing this season isn’t just a flash in the pan either. Torres has had past seasons with similar enough metrics and success to believe his hot start is his true ability and not closer to just good luck.

Why Torres Was the Perfect Fit for the Tigers

Like I mentioned earlier, the Tigers needed a righty bat to balance out their lefty-heavy lineup and help attack southpaws on the mound. In 2024, Detroit had a .659 OPS against lefties, a clear weakness of the team.

Enter Torres, who has slashed .362/.455/.681 for a 1135 OPS against lefties this season. Adding that level of production to the top third of the lineup has made a huge difference in front of Riley Greene, Torkelson, and, to a lesser extent, Andy Ibáñez.

Adding Torres and cementing him in the two-hole has helped bump everyone down a spot and lengthened the lineup.

With Torres performing at second, the Tigers also have one fewer question mark in the lineup. That’s one fewer player they might need to acquire at the deadline, which allows the front office to use their available resources to make a stronger push for a third baseman and/or relief pitcher.

On a less measurable note, Torres has also brought a veteran presence and winning pedigree to this young Tigers team. There was a moment a few weeks back when Torres noticed Tarik Skubal was gassed, and Torres more or less called a mound meeting to slow the game down. He seems to gel well with the current group, and although we cannot say how much that all means, it does matter.

Final Thoughts

While it is still too early to crown offseason awards, this deal is looking like one of, if not the, most underrated move of the offseason. Torres wanted a one-year deal, and he wanted to come to Detroit. The front office found a creative avenue to make it happen, and all indications are pointing toward a big payday for Torres.

Even if Torres leaves after this season, the deal will still have been a good one for Detroit. Production of this level is well worth the $15 million they are paying, and he’s filled a hole they desperately needed to fill. Although a number of infield prospects are on the way, keeping Torres around on an extension is not out of the realm of possibility, but we’ll table that discussion for now.

The Tigers are humming and have firmly established themselves in the upper tier of teams in baseball. Gleyber Torres is a big reason for that.