Rivalries emerge in different ways, capturing the imaginations of all fans involved. Mantle vs. Mays, Bird vs. Magic, Brady vs. Manning, Jeter vs. Nomar—these were all, at one time, defining rivalries in their sports.
Players who begin their careers at roughly the same time become natural rivals as their career arcs overlap, and help define each other’s accomplishments. This season, Gleyber Torres will face some of the game’s top young players, against whom he will be judged in for the bulk of his career.
Many of the best rivalries are those that have time to play out over the course of years.