It was just over a year ago when general manager Brian Cashman was discussing the possibility of trading for a starting pitcher and he was asked if he might entertain offers for Gleyber Torres.
At the time, Torres was emerging as one of the Yankees’ top bats and beginning to live up to the lofty expectations the team had for him when it acquired him in the deal that sent Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs in 2017.
Cashman scoffed at the notion.
“On who?” Cashman said last June of listening to inquiries about Torres. “Come on now. I’ve got to walk around this city.”
Torres is proving again that the Yankees were right to believe in him.
A day after Torres hit his first grand slam in the majors in a rout over the Rays, he followed up with an even more important blast — this one in the driving rain.
Torres’ three-run shot in the bottom of the fourth helped the Yankees break open their 10-6 win over the Astros on another bad weather night in The Bronx.
With the Yankees looking for their sixth straight victory after sweeping the Rays, they were held to just a first-inning single by Gary Sanchez against left-hander Framber Valdez until Sanchez led off the bottom of the fourth with his 22nd homer of the season to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead.
A storm popped up at the Stadium, seemingly out of nowhere, as Giancarlo Stanton followed Sanchez by ripping a double to left.
After Edwin Encarnacion walked, the rain got heavier and home-plate umpire Sam Holbrook — the crew chief — motioned to stop the game and Encarnacion headed to the dugout instead of first base.
But following a brief conversation with the grounds crew, Holbrook opted to keep the teams on the field, bringing Torres to the plate while fans sought cover.
Torres was undeterred and blasted the first pitch he saw in the at-bat out to left-center to make it 4-0.
“The only problem when it’s raining like that is I can’t see the ball sometimes,’’ Torres said. “But in that [at-bat], I could see it.”
He also singled and scored in the fifth.
It was just the latest bit of production from Torres, who has been solid all season and entered Thursday on a particularly hot stretch.
In his past 10 games, Torres is 11-for-28 with 11 runs, three homers and eight walks. He’s reached base in just about half of his at-bats during the span and has continued to fill in ably at shortstop when Didi Gregorius gets a day off after his comeback from offseason Tommy John surgery.
“That power for him, which is real, seems to come in bunches and the ability to hit it out to all fields is really beneficial,’’ Aaron Boone said. “He’s been huge for us, hitting in lot of different spots in the lineup.’’