Rookie Showdown

The two most talked-about rookies in the American League were on the same field Friday night as the Yankees hosted the Angels: Shohei Ohtani, the dynamic two-way player, and Gleyber Torres. Ohtani -- who disappointed New York fans when this next start was pushed back so he wouldn't pitch in Yankee Stadium -- walked in the 4th inning and advanced to 2nd base on Andrelton Simmons' single, putting him in the same image with Torres, the Yankees' second baseman.
But the night belonged to Torres, who drove in the Yankees first run on a second inning single, and then snapped a 1-1 tie with a seventh inning homer to the Stadium's right field power alley. This is not a misprint! Another big home run from Torres who again grabbed a piece of history: becoming the youngest player in American League history to homer in four consecutive games. He's got nine round trippers in his first 28 major league games.
While the Yankees had high hopes for the key piece in the 2016 deal for Aroldis Chapman (who then returned to the Bronx as a free agent the following winter), no one could have imagined that within a month of his arrival, the 21 year old would turn into a younger version of Jose Altuve.

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