Yankees manager explains surprising decision to bench polarizing infielder

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone had seen enough from second baseman Gleyber Torres on Friday night.

During the 8-5 loss against the Toronto Blue Jays, Torres was pulled from the game when the Yankees took the field in the top of the fourth inning.

At the time, it wasn't clear why Torres left the game, though many had speculated it was due to a lack of hustle on Torres single that hit the left field wall in the second inning.

It should have been a double, but Torres believed it to be a home run.  By the time he realized the ball wasn't leaving the park, it was too late. It costed the Yankees a run two batters later when Torres was thrown out at home trying to score from first base on an Anthony Volpe double.

Boone kept Torres in the game for another full inning, but then surprisingly pulled the polarizing second baseman in the fourth inning.

"I just felt like I needed to [bench him] in that spot," Boone told reporters. "I'm not going to get too down the rabbit hole of making judgments on this one. I just felt like, in that moment, I needed to do that. Simple is that. Is what it is. It's over with. You got to move on. He and I have spoken and hopefully this is a great learning moment for all of us."

Torres was benched earlier in the season due to his struggles both at the plate and in the field, which led to an egregious lack of hustle during a June game against the New York Mets.

Since returning from that benching, Torres has had more success at the plate with a .287 batting average and .785 OPS. His struggles in the field have continued, but he was at least making strides offensively.

But these types of mental lapses continue to plague Torres' game as he enters a contract year. Torres owned up to the error following the game.

"I have to get better," Torres said. "And I feel really sorry for [what I did] tonight, especially for the fans and also for my teammates. I'm a human being. I made an error and I feel like from what I did tonight I'm going to learn a lot. And I just want to compete with my teammates and I want to play great. And do 100 percent for my team."

Boone said Torres will be back in the lineup Saturday afternoon against the Blue Jays.