Gleyber Torres New York Yankees Signed Official Rawlings 2018 All-Star Game Baseball – JSA

Description

Gleyber Torres is a Venezuelan professional baseball shortstop and second baseman for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut on April 22, 2018. Torres was an All-Star in 2018 and 2019.

Torres signed with the Chicago Cubs as an international free agent in 2013 for a $1.7 million signing bonus. He made his professional debut in 2014 with the Arizona Cubs of the Rookie-level Arizona League. He was later promoted to the Boise Hawks of the Class A-Short Season Northwest League. In 50 games for the two teams combined, he hit .297/.386/.440 with two home runs.

In 2015, Torres began the season with the South Bend Cubs of the Class A Midwest League, and was promoted to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League in September. In 487 at bats over 126 games for the two teams combined, he hit .287/.346/.376 with three home runs and 64 runs batted in. Torres started the 2016 season with Myrtle Beach.

On July 25th, 2016, the Cubs traded Torres, Adam Warren, Billy McKinney, and Rashad Crawford to the Yankees for relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman. He began his Yankees career playing with the Tampa Yankees of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League. He finished the 2016 season batting .270/.354/.421 with 11 home runs and 66 RBI for the two Class A+ teams combined. After the season, the Yankees assigned him to the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League (AFL). After batting .403 in 76 at bats with a .513 on-base percentage and a 1.158 OPS, Torres was named the AFL Most Valuable Player. At the age of 19, Torres was the youngest player in the AFL, and the youngest player in history to win the AFL MVP. He was ranked after the 2016 season as the Yankees’ top prospect by Baseball America.

Torres made his MLB debut on April 22, 2018, as the second-baseman against the Toronto Blue Jays, going 0-for-4. The next day, against the Minnesota Twins, Torres recorded his first MLB hit. On May 4th, Torres hit his first career home run, off Josh Tomlin, which at the age of 21 was the youngest Yankee to homer since John Ellis in 1969. Two days later, against the Cleveland Indians, Torres hit his first career walk-off, a home run off relief pitcher Dan Otero, becoming the youngest Yankee to hit a walk-off homer and giving the Yankees a 7–4 victory.

On May 21, against the Texas Rangers, Torres recorded his first multi-homer game when he hit two home runs as the Yankees won 10–5. On May 25th against the Los Angeles Angels, Torres hit a home run in his fourth straight game; at 21 years and 163 days old, he became the youngest player in American League history to accomplish that feat. Torres was named AL Player of the Week for the week ending on May 27, when he hit .368/.429/1.158 with five home runs and nine RBIs. On May 29th, Torres hit a walk-off single to beat the Houston Astros in extra innings. Torres was also named American League Rookie of the Month for May. He slashed .317/.374/.659 scoring 13 runs, 26 hits, nine home runs and 24 RBI.

Gleyber ended the 2019 campaign with 38 home runs and a slugging percentage of .535, proving to be a big part of the dangerous New York Yankees lineup. His 38 home runs made him the second ever middle infielder after Alex Rodriguez to do so before turning 23, and third Yankees player since DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle to hit at least 20 home runs in two different seasons before the age of 23. He also went on to hit .417 in the 2019 American League Division Series. He finished 17th in MVP voting in 2019, with his teammate D.J. Lemahieu finishing fourth.

The featured official Rawlings 2018 All-Star Game Major League Baseball was signed by Yankees Second Baseman Gleyber Torres in blue. After batting .294 with 15 home runs and 42 RBI over 218 at-bats and boasting a .905 OPS, Torres was selected to the 2018 All-Star Game, his first All-Star appearance, but he did not play in the game since he had a right hip strain. The Baseball includes an official James Spence Authentication (JSA) hologram and matching COA for authenticity purposes.