Gleyber Torres made an early exit from tonight’s game due to what the Yankees described as stiffness in his left lower back. The shortstop will receive further examination tomorrow, when the Yankees return to the Bronx to open a three-game series with the Athletics. Torres took an awkward fall while fielding a Bo Bichette grounder in the third inning, and was replaced for a pinch-hitter in the top half of the fourth.
Torres has hit .260/.342/.344 over 244 plate appearances this season, working his way back up to close to league-average production (96 wRC+) after a rough April, and also a week-long absence in May due to a positive COVID-19 test. He also has a +3.7 UZR/150 and -2 Defensive Runs Saved over 505 2/3 innings at shortstop, a significant improvement with the glove after his shortstop defense has been such a point of criticism. If Torres’ back problem is serious enough to merit a visit to the injured list, Tyler Wade or Gio Urshela are the likely choices to step in at shortstop, with DJ LeMahieu or Miguel Andujar capable of stepping in at third base if Urshela changes positions.
More on other injury situations from around the American League…
- Matt Boyd will visit Dr. Neal ElAttrache for an examination of the Tigers southpaw’s ailing left arm, manager A.J. Hinch told reporters (including Chris McCosky of The Detroit News). More will be known once the exam takes place, though the team is already considering holding Boyd and Spencer Turnbull back until after the All-Star break. “Are we going to push these guys before the All-Star break versus utilizing the time (the four-day break) and targeting them back after the break? That’s the assessment that’s going to be done over the next couple of weeks on how we’re going to ramp these guys back up,” Hinch said. A forearm strain sent Turnbull to the IL on June 5, and while his injury wasn’t though to be overly serious, naturally the Tigers will be cautious with any forearm issue. Boyd — and perhaps Turnbull as well — figure to be trade chips for Detroit at the deadline, so while the team would surely want both hurlers to prove they’re healthy prior to July 30, there is no point in rushing them back and risking further injury.
- After missing a month due to strained left hip flexor, Mariners first baseman Evan White has halted his rehab due to a setback. (Jen Mueller of Root Sports was among those to report the news.) While White could potentially return to Triple-A Tacoma within a week, it represents another delay in his sophomore season. Though White won the Gold Glove for his excellent first base defense in 2020, he has yet to hit at the big league level, with only a .165/.235/.308 slash line in 306 career plate appearances in the majors.
Screw Tyler Wade. Give a kid on the farm a shot…it literally cannot get any worse at SS than Wade.
It quite literally can. Kyle Holder is on line 1. Although Park is raking in AAA. Wonder if he gets a cup of joe.
They could try Odor there. While not saying much, I think Wade is a better option at any position than Odor.
Would you like to trade for Refsnyder when he comes off the IL ? Twins should be sellers…
I would love to hear all of the rave reviews about Refsnyder coming from the Bronx again but unfortunately I fear the reviews will likely only be average from the SS position. Hopefully, Wade calls up Ref and borrows one of his bats so some of that magic can run off. Couldn’t hurt cause Wade is barely a AAA player and doesn’t belong anywhere near NY. The Yanks get another super utility option in the future. Up until the last couple of years the bench was never a problem. Now with all of the constant injuries and big contracts there isn’t money for in-season additions, or so they claim.
Anyone disagree that when the entire IF is all healthy(probably just a hypothetical), Luke a 1st, gleyber at 2nd, Gio at SS and Dj at 3rd?
You’re making two positions worse to make one better. Dj is better at 2b, Urshela is better at 3rd. Just because Gleyber is better as a 2b doesn’t mean you move 2 others out of position.
I would counter that the upgrade urshella gives you is worth moving Dj to 3rd
but of all the positions that DJ plays 3rd is his worse and over his 11 yr career in mlb he barely has 100 games there.
you also want to put Urshela midseason as your everyday ss considering he only has 20 games in his mlb carreer at the position and only 1/3 of the games this year did he play the complete game as SS. Pretty mighty task to ask of him while he tries to get the bat to where it was the last couple of years.
all this to move someone to 2nd base that already has a better defender playing there ?
How does making two plus defenders average to improve one position to average a real upgrade? Much less make the changes in-season?
This is a popular myth that Gleyber is better at second base, unless there’s nothing to the metrics (which I’ll concede is quite possible, because fielding metrics are dubious). If there is something to the metrics, he’s better at short.
In addition to his superior rating at short by measures like RZR, UZR and UZR/150, Baseball Savant taxed him with -2 Outs Above Average at short in 2019 and -9 at second base, with 64 more attempts and a higher success rate at short.
Torres is the SS until someone else is brought in. Not sure why so many want to move Gio off third. Kid’s been above average on both sides of the ball going on 3 years now. I choose to keep Gio in his prime the next few years over Torres and Voit. One of Cashman’s best acquisitions.
Evan White will be “hurt” the rest of the season. He’s got no business in the show. Needs more time to cook.
Especially since Jake Bauers is hitting great and plays a decent 1B.
Bauers was a nice pick up. Cautiously optimistic. Evan does need AAA time for his own good and he was having a nice start there. Incredible defense, sure hope it eventually comes around w the bat. Side note: Love watching JPs defense at the Sunday game
Getting updates on Boyd and Turnbull is nice, but what’s happening with Tehran and Erasamo Rameriz? I thought these veteran arms would soak up innings, not disappear on the IL for the year. Its like they don’t exist anymore. Should a missing persons report be filed?
While there is no point rushing them back there is a point to getting them back to readiness well before the all star break if they are more than healthy. The AS break is in just over 3 weeks but the trade deadline is only 2 weeks after the the end of the AS break. IF either are to be trade candidates that is not all that much time to prove your health to potential suitors. So there is potential harm to being too cautious.
There is also potential harm to the rebuild by trading away your starters. Urena is the likeliest to be moved as he is on a one year contract. Having a starting staff for next year of Mize, Skubal, Manning, Boyd, and Turnbull would be very, very solid. If Avila can sign a veteran that won’t spend the year on the IL, like Verlander or Scherzer, that could be a contender.
i wanted urena on the mets fighting for the 5th starter or maybe even a swing role but im curious what ever happened to fulmer? He seemed to fall off any discussions. Ill be honest i havent kept up with the tigers in a long time.
Fulmer is now a relief pitcher, usually comes in either in the 8th or 9th inning.
The Year of the Injury List.
Now is the time for Al Avila to be a superstar. You can call me for some advise…as long as you bring the empanadas……
He’s been iffy, but we wish him a good trading period.
Oh-oh….