Gleyber Torres’ rehab assignment is off to an excellent start, as the shortstop homered, walked twice, and made an incredible play in the field in his rehab debut with Double-A Somerset on Sunday.
Torres has been out since August 9 with a left thumb strain, and after three weeks off, he was the leadoff hitter and playing short in Somerset’s 7-4 win over Akron Sunday. He flew out in his first plate appearance, but he then hit a solo homer leading off the third, then walked with two outs in the fourth and walked again with two outs in the sixth.
Torres played seven innings on defense before being replaced by Jesus Bastidas to start the eighth, and while he faced just two defensive chances, the first one, in the first inning, saw him bare-hand a slow roller to short and barely nab Jose Fermin at first:
The play came with two on and one out and Akron up 2-0, so it potentially saved at least one run, as the next batter rapped a two-run single. Torres’ other play was a more routine 6-3 groundout in the sixth.
The Minor Leagues are off on Monday, so Torres will continue his rehab assignment on Tuesday when Somerset travels to Bowie, and if all goes well, he is expected back when the Yankees return home on Friday.
Rosters expand Wednesday, so the team can add two players to up the roster to 28, but when Yankees manager Aaron Boone was asked Sunday about what Torres’ return might mean for Andrew Velazquez, Tyler Wade, and others, he was non-committal.
“We’ll see,” he said. “I don’t want to jump ahead of myself.
Five days can be a lifetime.”
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