With injury fortunes that look more familiar to the crosstown-rival Mets, the New York Yankees have been forced to piece together their infield during a slow start to the 2018 season.
Long-term injuries to first baseman Greg Bird and third baseman Brandon Drury has led manager Aaron Boone to put natural second baseman Neil Walker at first while Tyler Wade and Miguel Andujar have played second and third base.
Wade and Andujar haven’t done much with their opportunities in the big leagues, which has led the Yankees looking for other options. Called up six games into the season, Andujar was batting just .156 with three RBI entering Monday night while Wade, who originally won the chance to platoon with Walker at second out of spring training, has sported a .094 average with 11 strikeouts in 32 at-bats. The veteran Walker hasn’t been much better as he’s slashing .188/.264/.208.
Thanks to the Red Sox’s hot start, New York can’t spend much time hoping for Andujar, Wade or Walker to break out of their slump or else they might fall out of contention for the AL East by mid-May.
The quickest alternative the Yankees could take is calling up top prospect Gleyber Torres, who is ripping it up in triple-A during the early portions of this spring.
In 10 games, the 21-year-old is batting .385 with one home run and 10 RBI in 10 games and could bring a much-needed boost to the infield.
Formerly the top-rated prospect in the majors, now ranked at No. 5 by MLB Pipeline, Torres likely would have made his MLB debut last season had it not been for a torn UCL that required Tommy John surgery. He had an opportunity to make the big club this spring training, but a mediocre performance in which he slashed .219/.286/.313 with a single RBI in 13 games made it clear that he needed a little more time in the minors.
The Yankees might not have anticipated his call-up being this quick, but Boone admitted that his promotion to the majors is possible.
If the team is ready to make the move, they likely will wait until Wednesday to do so. Should the Yankees call up Torres on Monday or Tuesday, he would become a free agent after the 2023-24 season. By waiting until Wednesday, he wouldn’t become a free agent until the end of the 2024-25 campaign.
