It’s no secret that the Baltimore Orioles are one of the worst teams in the league, and the New York Yankees are one of the best. Put the two together 19 times a year as AL East rivals, and you’re going to get some gaudy numbers.
Still, the eye-popping numbers put up by Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres are unparalleled. Torres has been a decent, but not great hitter against teams other than Baltimore this season. When the Orioles come to town, however, he turns into peak Barry Bonds except even better.
Gleyber Torres this season (stats *entering today*):
Cumulative: .278/.345/.501; .846 OPS, 119 wRC+
Against everyone but the Orioles: .261/.326/.420; .746 OPS, 94 wRC+
Against Orioles only: .400/.474/1.060; 1.534 OPS, 284 wRC+— Lindsey Adler (@lindseyadler) August 12, 2019
Barry Bonds’ best season-long OPS was 1.422 in 2004. The Orioles have turned Gleyber Torres into Barry Bonds In 2004 But Way Better this season.
— Lindsey Adler (@lindseyadler) August 12, 2019
Torres hit a home run in his first at bat against the Orioles on Monday, adding to the numbers. Such is Torres’ dominance against Baltimore that nearly half of his 2019 home runs — 11 of 24 after Monday’s aforementioned homer — have come against Baltimore.
Torres is a career .360 hitter against the Orioles, so this is nothing new. He’s been so dominant against them that Baltimore’s announcers have noticed and are extremely sick of him.
