Is it too daring to dream that the 2010 Giants might be one of those improbable stories, a little team that could, destined for a glory that almost nobody could have predicted?
Not if you ask Andres Torres.
For the Giants’ turbocharged little leadoff man, all things are possible — even a waking dream that lasts 162 games.
The Giants couldn’t find a more hopeful standard-bearer than Torres, a 32-year-old switch-hitting revelation who never played regularly in the big leagues until now and yet throws out a shower of sparks almost every night.
To watch Torres make an impact at the plate and in the field this season, it’s mind blowing to think that he spent almost four of his supposed prime years bouncing through the farm systems of three organizations, never seeing a big league at-bat between 2005 and ’09.
How can a minor league journeymen belt a home run off a 99 mph fastball from Stephen Strasburg? How can he splash homers into McCovey Cove? How can he stand 5-foot-9 in bare feet and swing a 35-ounce telephone pole? And generate amazing bat speed with it, too?
How can he make more diving, sprawling, leaping, dust-cloud-forming catches in the outfield than anyone could count?
“By never giving up,” Torres said. “Always working hard. Always trying to get better. “… I’m 32, but I don’t think age matters.”
Late bloomers provide some of baseball’s best stories. A few years ago, when Jim Morris went from high school science teacher to 40-year-old rookie, it didn’t take the Disney folks long to crank out a heartwarming feature film.
Maury Wills didn’t establish himself until he was 27. Dave Roberts is a more recent example of a speed guy who waited for his chance.
But Torres isn’t filling out the bullpen of a losing team. And he isn’t slapping and dashing.
In fact, that’s what held him back all those years with the Tigers, Rangers, White Sox, Tigers again and Cubs. He tried to hit like Ichiro Suzuki, putting the ball on the ground and flying to first base.
“I hit for so many years without loading my hands,” said Torres, who came late to baseball from a track background. “When I’d swing, I’d just go forward. It led to a lot of bad habits.”
Two years ago, Torres knew something had to change. He began looking at all the video he could find of good hitters such as Albert Pujols, watching how they rotate through the pitch. He was able to focus better, too, after he was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and began taking medication.
During winter ball in Puerto Rico two years ago, he started forming the basis of a swing that wasn’t designed just to put the ball in play, but to barrel it up.
Ever since taking over the center-field job in late April, Torres is doing that better than almost anyone else in the NL.
Here is a list of National League players who through Sunday had more extra-base hits than Torres: Adam Dunn, Jayson Werth, Pujols …
And that’s it.
Torres’ .876 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) is higher than that of Andre Ethier, Alfonso Soriano, Brian McCann, Hanley Ramirez and Ryan Braun. His 33 doubles are three behind Werth for the league lead.
Entering the season, Torres had 12 doubles in his major league career.
Only the Cincinnati Reds’ Joey Votto ranks higher than Torres among NL players according to WAR (wins above replacement), a statistic that melds offensive and defensive metrics to quantify overall value.
“He’s saved us with his all-around play,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “I don’t know if there’s a better outfielder in the National League; that’s how much I think of him. I’m happy and proud of the kid. He’s gone through a long road to get to this point.”
Almost more impressive than Torres’ numbers is the manner in which he is compiling them. His two-run double won a game at Dodger Stadium. His home run at Arizona traveled 430 feet. His homer off Strasburg in Washington wasn’t just remarkable because it came on a 99-mph fastball. He pulled it, too.
“I guess dynamite comes in small packages, as they say,” Bochy said.
There is one bit of misinformation that Torres wants to clear up, though. The Giants media guide lists his middle name as Vungo.
“No, it’s Yungo,” Torres said. “And it’s not really my name. I am Andres Torres Jr.”
So what is Yungo?
“My other name,” he said. “If you go to Aguada, my hometown, in Puerto Rico, and ask for Yungo, everybody will know who you want to see. It’s “… what do you call it? It’s a nickname.”
His parents gave it to him when he was young, and no, it doesn’t really have an English translation. But when you share a clubhouse with a rip-roaring rookie catcher named Buster Posey, maybe Yungo doesn’t need an explanation.
Maybe nobody can explain Andres “Yungo” Torres Jr. Maybe just watching him is enough.
For more on the Giants, see Andrew Baggarly’s Extra Baggs blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/extrabaggs.
