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Sweeny's Yankees Notes: Fight The Urge To Want Torres Promoted To MLB

By Sweeny Murti
» More Columns

Since their 21-9 start, the first-place Yankees have won just eight of their last 18. Yet they've managed to put together a bit of a cushion between themselves and the rest of the AL East.

As they work through some inconsistencies and hope to get some key players back from the disabled list, let's pop around the organization and see the latest trends.

-- Gleyber Torres makes his home debut for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre on Tuesday night. It has been a week since he was promoted from Double-A Trenton, and fans are in a rush to see when he will make the jump to the majors. Every game where Chase Headley continues his slump seems to increase fans' desire to see Torres in the Bronx.

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It's important to remember that when the Yankees do eventually bring up Torres they want him to stay for good. It makes zero sense to cut bait with Headley for a guy who has played a handful of games at third base in the minor leagues and has only been at Triple-A for a week.

Torres still has to learn the position. Scouts tell me he needs to improve his first step if he wants to man "the hot corner." And he has to keep hitting.

Torres has shined at every level so far and is off to a good start offensively at Scranton. But that doesn't mean he's ready to play third base for a team with postseason aspirations. If an injury doesn't force the issue, you really have to be fair to Torres and let him succeed at this level before he gets to the next one.

-- Ronald Torreyes is fun to watch. He will likely never be more than a utility player, but a player like that is extremely valuable to a winning team. One of his teammates told me Torreyes is good at his role because he is simply prepared to play every day, and his pregame routine in the field and at the plate is impressive.

Yankees 1B Greg Bird
Yankees first baseman Greg Bird hits a single during the second inning of the AL Wild Card Game against the Astros on Oct. 6, 2015, at Yankee Stadium. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

-- Greg Bird will begin rehab games later this week, the bone bruise on his right ankle healed finally. It's possible he could return to the Yankees' lineup by the end of the next homestand.

The Yankees have gotten almost nothing out of first base two months into the season. A healthy Bird should change that. A healthy Bird is also something the Yankees haven't seen much the last few years. A back injury in the minors forced him from behind the plate. The shoulder injury cost him some time in 2015 and all of 2016. Now the bone bruise in his foot that's erased basically a third of this season.

I don't mean this as an insult to either player, but so far Bird's career seems a lot like another first baseman. Nick Johnson had similar on-base and power potential while constantly battling injuries.

For 2016 and beyond, the Yankees need to see Bird bounce back from this latest setback and add some more left-handed power to the lineup.

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-- Masahiro Tanaka will take the ball in the series finale in Baltimore on Wednesday, and it just makes sense to keep Austin Romine with him for another start.

Yankees P Masahiro Tanaka
Yankees starter Mashiro Tanaka walks off the mound following the sixth inning against the Oakland Athletics at Yankee Stadium on May 26, 2017. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)

Tanaka had success in his start against Oakland because his slider and splitter came back to life and in turn made his fastball more effective. A lot of that is on Tanaka himself. But if the pairing with Romine had even a little bit to do with Tanaka's improvement, then it makes all the sense in that world to give it another go.

Romine doesn't have to be labeled as Tanaka's "personal catcher" just yet. But playing him is just a way to make Tanaka comfortable again until he is back to being the pitcher he was a year ago when it didn't matter who was catching.

-- It could make sense to give Gary Sanchez some DH days in place of Matt Holliday. While Holliday's OPS is certainly higher than last year and some of his nine home runs have been big ones, his ground ball rate is down only slightly from last year (something he talked about improving) and his strikeout rate is astonishingly high (30 percent heading into Monday).

The Yankees are in a long stretch with few off days. Perhaps resting Holliday occasionally could help. Of course that will be easier to do when a healthy and productive Bird comes back, too.

-- Lot of big names in the Yankees farm system. One under the radar name that a couple scouts brought to my attention again last week is Mike Ford, a 24-year-old first baseman who has spent most of the season at Double-A with a brief turn at Triple-A.

Ford is a New Jersey kid who was undrafted and signed out of Princeton in 2013. He has flashed power --- he hit four home runs in one game at Class A Charleston three years ago -- but his continued success and plate discipline up the chain is what has people talking. In almost 1,300 career minor league at-bats entering Monday, Ford had more walks (205) than strikeouts (204) and a .375 on-base percentage.

Maybe he won't become a big league star, but those I spoke to say Ford's approach at the plate is terrific and he will play in the majors one day.

Please follow Sweeny on Twitter at @YankeesWFAN

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