Gleyber Torres entered free agency as a 28-year-old coming off a 38-homer season and a couple of All-Star appearances, yet he had to accept a one-year deal with the Detroit Tigers after a lackluster final season with the New York Yankees. While his career stats show a .266/.335/.442 hitting line, his last season’s performance fell short at .257/.330/.378, with only 15 home runs. Thus, there were low expectations for his rebound in the spacious Comerica Park.

Against the odds, Torres has shown remarkable improvement, arguably reaching his peak performance. Despite never nearing that 38-homer mark again, he has registered a .304 average in his first 29 games this season, exhibiting a significant reduction in strikeouts at an 8.6% rate—significantly lower than his career average of 19.9%.

This kind of improvement, even with a small sample size, is extremely rare. Over the past few seasons, only one player, Luis Robert, achieved a better strikeout improvement by April 2022.

However, a cautionary note comes from the past—Tim Anderson also had similar highs in his strikeout rate in 2022 but was unable to sustain his performance, raising concerns about the longevity of Torres’ newfound success. Overall, this trajectory indicates that while Torres’ hot start is impressive and has reinvigorated interest in him for fantasy leagues, it’s improbable that he will maintain this high level of output.