Gleyber Torres is receiving rave reviews from Tigers brass for this key reason

It might be a little harsh but not totally inaccurate to say that the Tigers' signing of Gleyber Torres was underwhelming. It was before the Tigers started looking really serious about chasing Alex Bregman and in the midst of when it looked like Detroit was going to be in for a quiet offseason. Torres had ruffled a lot of feathers in New York with the Yankees, was known for bad defense, a lack of hustle, and his power had experienced a progressive decline since his breakout 2019 season.

But Torres introduced himself to the Tigers in a big way in their second game against the Dodgers on Opening Weekend, hitting his first homer of the season to add to a Tigers lead. Even though he went onto the IL almost immediately on March 31, he spent basically the minimum amount of time there and returned to the team on April 11. He's been a fixture of the top of the Tigers' lineup ever since.

Torres has been garnering praise from manager AJ Hinch and his teammates for his quiet leadership and veteran presence on a very young team. His wealth of knowledge was apparent to them during the Tigers' series against the Orioles, a team Torres faced almost 100 times during his years in the AL East and one he's historically mashed against. He also offered advice during his teammates' at-bats against Nick Pivetta, a former Red Sox, in their series against the Padres.

AJ Hinch said, "his Rolodex of information is really high," and Kerry Carpenter added, "We could watch people's videos all day. It’s different seeing and hearing from somebody who’s actually been in the box."

Gleyber Torres seems to be fitting in just fine as veteran leader of young Tigers squad

Torres, as noted, had been the subject of criticism for a lack of hustle with the Yankees, but that doesn't seem to be a problem with the Tigers. Third base coach Joey Cora, who has had a large hand in encouraging his players' aggressive approach to running, told Torres to "be ready to run" when he signed with Detroit. Torres, in turn, took yet another veiled shot at the Yankees, saying, "From the beginning (of spring training), I was in the dugout and I saw everybody running first to third. I didn’t do that before. It's a brand new game for me."

Entering Sunday's game, Torres was taking extra base opportunities at 71.4% rate, when he'd never done so over 50% with the Yankees.

Although it's unlikely Torres ever gets back to the 30+ homer mark that he set in 2019, Torres' .281 average and .744 OPS, consistent .330+ OBP at the top of the lineup, and willingness to adapt to the Tigers' way of playing makes his signing look like a good one.