How do you feel about the Yankees’ decision to call up Gleyber Torres?

Just before the weekend started, I asked whether the Yankees should hold off on calling up Gleyber Torres. While at the beginning of the season I couldn’t wait for Torres to be called up, I questioned the timing of the move. The Yankees had just been embarrassed at the hands of the Marlins which perfectly encapsulated how frustrating the start of the 2018 season had been for the Yankees.

After that game, Brian Cashman was asked if the Yankees would be calling Torres up from the minors anytime soon. The question came up because between that game and the next game, the Yankees secured an extra year of team control on Torres. If it hadn’t been for that and the rust he showed during spring training, he probably would’ve made the Opening Day roster. The question came at the perfect time since Torres was raking and the service time was no longer an issue. Cashman responded this way:

At the time, I agreed with the sentiment. I didn’t want the Yankees to call up Gleyber Torres to be some sort of savior for their season. The Yankees had been frustrating up to that point and the negative energy surrounding the team couldn’t have been good for a player that is as hyped as Torres. I argued that when the Yankees started playing to their true talent level, it’d be a better time to promote him.

My reaction was definitely more driven by the frustration of the Yankees overall and Cashman’s quote was the final nail for me. It made sense. The timing wasn’t right. So of course, the next day it was announced that the Yankees were in fact calling Torres up for Sunday’s finale against the Blue Jays.

As soon as I heard Torres was getting the call, I was excited. Call me a “flip-flopper” if you want, I won’t argue. I will “defend” myself by adding that I did say if the Yankees decided to call him up, I was sure it would be the right decision. Perhaps I was just excited about such a hyped prospect being called up that I didn’t care about my other feelings. I did find it curious though that Cashman had taken such a strong stance and then called him up so soon after.

Then I realized that while my frustration stemmed from the overall season, the more recent body of work hadn’t been that bad. The Yankees had won five of their last eight games. The bullpen had started to settle down from their early season woes, and the offense was starting to come to life. Despite some frustrating moments for the offense during those games, they were at least scoring runs for the most part.

The Yankees had started saving their own season, so they weren’t calling Torres up to be a hero. The other part of the timing that was crucial was who they’d be facing. Sunday’s starter for the Blue Jays was old friend of the team, Jaime Garcia. As PSA’s resident Canadian Joshua Diemert pointed out, Garcia is a soft-tossing lefty. It’s not like they were throwing Torres into the fire against a Chris Sale or Clayton Kershaw level of pitcher.

After this series, the Yankees will host the Twins before heading west to face the Angels. While neither of those teams should be taken for granted, it’s still better to call him up now before they start tougher series against the Astros, the Cleveland Baseball Team, and the Red Sox.

While my frustration was showing last week and I did question if now would be the right time, once they said he was coming up excitement took over. It helped that they announced his call-up after a 9-1 thumping of the Blue Jays, so I was just in a better mood in general. The timing made perfect sense when I looked at the overall picture. Whether I’ve been blinded by excitement or just realized I was wrong, Gleyber Torres is with the Yankees and I couldn’t be happier.

How do you feel about the Yankees’ decision to call up Torres? Did they wait too long or should they have waited a bit longer?