Cincinnati — Gleyber Torres has done a lot of good things in the first 25 games this season.
He’s getting on base at a .363 clip, which is useful. He’s a plus-1 defensive runs saved and he's made a couple of clutch plays with runners on base to end potentially damaging innings. He’s been his usual solid presence in the lineup and in the clubhouse.
But clearly, he’s not moving, swinging or performing up to his own standards.
“I think Gleyber has been on a collision course of two things,” manager AJ Hinch said before the game Friday. “One, the surgery he had (sports hernia) is more grueling to come back from than we give it credit for. But he’s not a complainer. He’s done his rehab and he came back.
“Two, he had a very broken spring training. I thought he was still in spring training-mode when we broke camp.”
He left camp early to join Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic and missed the better part of three weeks. On top of that, he barely played in the first round of the tournament.
“This is the lowest volume of preparedness than he’s had coming into a season,” Hinch said.
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How has that manifested? His bat speed is down 3 mph, from 70.2 last season to 67.2 now. He’s got just three extra-base hits in 113 plate appearances and is slugging .290.
His sprint speed, which has been dropping since 2021, is down from 26.2 feet per second to 25.1 feet per second.
His average time home to first is a career-high 4.77 seconds.
“He had a difficult six months of recovery and rolled into an awkward spring and it’s created a little uneasiness coming into the season,” Hinch said.
The 29-year-old Torres, as he has for all but one of ground-ball maestro Framber Valdez’s starts, was the designated hitter Friday. Hinch said he was planning to give Torres a full off day Saturday.
He emphasized that Torres wasn’t injured or dealing with anything specific. The off time was more about general maintenance.
“He’s rounding into form,” Hinch said. “He’s finding a way to hit those backside singles late in games. He’s a tough at-bat and he’s walking a ton. I think he’s fine. We’ll give him the DH day today and an off day tomorrow, just trying to get his explosiveness back.”
Given his druthers, Torres would rather keep playing.
“He thrives on being available every day and being in the lineup every day,” Hinch said. “He will work through his good days and his bad days. I have no concerns with him mentally or physically. This is just a small snapshot at the beginning of the season.
“It’s just rare for him to have to dig out of a small hole.”
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Tigers' AJ Hinch explains what's behind Gleyber Torres' sluggish start