Andres Torres is a ‘Gifted Defender’

Bruce Bochy called Andres Torres a “gifted defender” tonight, according to Henry Schulman.

Yeahhhhhh, that’s what I got out of this play below.

In all seriousness, I have no qualms with Bochy playing Torres and leaving him out there even after his second debacle tonight. I know a manager’s job is to sometimes show faith in this players, even when they shouldn’t necessarily, and we all know Bochy loves veterans. I think the horde of people wanting to replace Torres and even Angel Pagan in CF with Juan Perez is ridiculous given that we’re not even sure what he can do with a bat just yet. Yes, he’s an excellent defender. Yes, Torres has been horrible in LF defensively. But I’m not sure we’re ready to make Juan Perez the next Brandon Belt Brett Pill. (Yeah, remember when we all felt bad for Belt warming the bench during the Aubrey Huff days). That said, I do think Bochy could have made some better managerial decisions tonight. I may have done the same thing, but it would have been interesting to see how the game would have played out with Perez in the lineup.

All the same, I think Torres will get a couple of “days off” when the Giants return to AT&T Park and tonight may have forced Bochy’s hand into playing Perez a little more.