From Contact Hitter to Complete Hitter
- Jared Goldstein
- 24 hours ago
- 2 min read
The Yankees signed middle infielder Juan Torres out of the Dominican Republic as part of their 2025 International Free Agent class for $50K, and through two seasons in the DSL, he's played like an All-Star. Torres has looked like a bargain from the moment he stepped on the Yankees complex.
At 18 years old, he's displaying advanced plate maturity, elite bat-to-ball skill, and power that wasn't fully unlocked in year one but has arrived in a big way in year two.
Torres' first professional season was exceptional for a 17-year-old. Across 47 games he slashed .359/.406/.516/.922 with 43 RBI and a .442 wOBA — and an 11.8% strikeout rate at that age is legitimately special. But four home runs and a 3.5 BB% told the other side of the story. Torres was leaning almost entirely on contact, and in today's game that approach has its limits regardless of how good the hands are. The production was real, but the walk rate and the lack of over-the-fence pop were things he'd need to address if he was going to push forward. He addressed them both.
Through 27 games this season Torres has already surpassed his home run total from all of last year, sitting at five. More striking: he's exceeded his entire 2025 extra-base hit total by five, sitting at 20 XBH. The slash line reads .373/.436/.695 with a 1.154 OPS, a .502 wOBA, and a 150 wRC+. His walk rate climbed to 7.7%. His strikeout rate dropped to 9.4%.
That's not a subtle improvement. That's a different hitter.
Perhaps the most revealing development is what's happening with his spray chart. In 2025, Torres was predominantly a pull hitter who rarely used the middle of the field or worked the other way. This year he's become a genuine all-fields hitter, posting pull/middle/opposite splits of 35.5/30.1/34.4%. The ability to use the entire field to hit the ball where it's pitched rather than reach and force contact to one side — is likely a significant driver of the power surge. More angles, more damage.
2026 DSL Rankings
.390 BA — 5th
.695 SLG — 3rd
1.154 OPS — 4th
.520 wOBA — 12th
Yes, the walk rate is still relatively low by advanced metrics standards. But jumping from 3.5% to 7.7% in one offseason while simultaneously cutting the strikeout rate and adding real power is the kind of leap that turns heads across every level of a player development pipeline. Torres grew his power, improved his discipline, and expanded his approach all at once. His defense is considered average and he's expected to stick at second base a profile that mirrors teammate Richard Matic in the sense that the bat is so far ahead of everything else that it carries the entire prospect case on its own.
At just 18 years old there's electricity in his bat, and the power seems to be blossoming this season. He should arrive stateside at the Florida Complex League next season, and at some point he should crack the Yankees top 30 prospects list.Â
For now Torres will continue to tear up the DSL with a few weeks left to go in the season, and he should far exceed nearly every statistic from his rookie campaign.
