Yankees' Progressing Their Efforts To Stay On Track For 2021

  This Yankees' offseason has been all about the organization's efforts to revamp their arsenal, in hopes that they will have the opportunity to put their best lineup on the field when Opening Day arrives in the coming weeks.

  All this offseason, the goal going into spring training is to focus on a "reclamation project" of sorts. Up to this point, everything is going according to plan as concerns about how certain players will produce in 2021 are already being worked upon.

  Going into spring training, there were concerns about the on field production of guys like Gary Sanchez, but as players such as Sanchez get their spring training work in, all signs points to the entire team being ready for the 162 -game season ahead. Speaking of which, it has been exciting to know that Sanchez has already hit some long balls at George M. Steinbrenner Field as his average is up, his strikeout rate is remaining low and most of all, he is in the process of revamping his catching abilities. With that being said, his work at the backstop position has been nothing short of nearly flawless.  

  If he keeps up his work ethic at this rate, Sanchez is bound to have a stellar season ahead of him.

  Another athlete that the Yanks are keeping an eye on is Gleyber Torres. The Yankee shortstop went into this offseason with the goals of fine tuning his defensive arsenal and getting back into offensive shape. It is no doubt that last season was a decline the young phenom's career, as their kid shortstop regressed from rising superstar in 2019 to an out-to-shape disappointment at the plate and in the field last year. 

  Considering how last year was for Torres, it is great the kid shortstop is pulling out all the stops during his spring training. So far, Torres looks like the old Gleyber Torres and actually he is showing indications of being better than ever before. All things considered, Torres mashed 38 homers in 144 games two years ago as a 22-year-old in his first full season.

  With the 2021 season approaching rapidly, besides Torres needing to be in top notch shape, he will have to rebound quickly from the poor production that he was putting out a  season ago.

  Through Torres’ first seven spring games, all 13 grounders hit his way turned into outs and he’s handles 23 chances without an error.

  With that said, don't dismiss what has happened in these practice games thus far. You might recall last year when Torres led the majors in spring training errors, then he was worse during the shortened season with a .933 fielding percentage that was the lowest among starting shortstops.

  Torres is putting in the work to regain his form in the batter's box and he is also putting in the work on the defensive side of the baseball.

  His .400 average and two homers in 15 at-bats are helping him put his 2020 numbers — .243 average, three homers in 42 games — more and more out of his mind.

  “Last year I got in a little trouble with my timing,” Torres said. “I did too much swinging at a bad pitch. I tried to do too much. This year, I’ll follow the plan we had in 2019: Be confident. And if I have the opportunity to hit homer, I’ll do it. I know I can hit homers.”

  In just about 2 and a 1/2 weeks, Torres and everyone who has been working their way back from injuries will have an opportunity to turn their spring training into full season success.

  As far as the atmosphere that is surrounding the Yankee training camp so far, since Corey Kluber joined the pinstriped squad, he has been impressed by what he is seeing so far. Looking back, it has been almost three years since Kluber last pitched against the Yanks. It is interesting to note that though  some of the faces have changed from a batting order that hung six earned runs and a loss on July 12, 2018, the right-hander is happy to see that offensive power will be on his side of the lineup card in 2021.

  "Any Major League lineup is deep one through nine, but that's a different level lineup we ran out there today, and will run out on a regular basis," Kluber said during the Yankees' 7-5 Grapefruit League victory over the Pirates on Saturday. "You don't really have a chance to breathe as a pitcher pitching against them. You can't take a pitch off. You can't let your guard down."

  With injured players making their way back from the injured list and everyone on the Yankees' roster is putting in the work to get ready for another championship run that will kickoff on April 1st of the 2021 season.