Gleyber Torres wasn’t in Tuesday night’s starting lineup. No, the struggling shortstop wasn’t benched. His left hamstring is bothering him, manager Aaron Boone said over Zoom before the Yankees began a three-game series with the Mariners in Seattle.
Boone said after the Yankees’ 12-1 blowout win that Torres was available, though he wasn’t used. He took batting and fielding practice and felt good. It’s uncertain if he will be in the starting lineup on Wednesday night.
Torres had hamstring cramps during Sunday’s doubleheader with the Mets, and that issue didn’t resolve itself by Tuesday night. Torres was scheduled to test the hamstring before first pitch to see if he could be available off the bench.
“Still lingering a little bit in there today,” Boone said. “I’m hoping it’s not anything too serious, but we’ll have to see where it’s at. … Just decided to hold him out and wanted to see how he looks going through the pregame routine today.”
Without Torres in the lineup, Gio Urshela was at shortstop, Rougned Odor started at second base and DJ LeMahieu moved over to third. Torres felt the cramping while he was warming up to enter the second game on Sunday.
The 24-year-old Torres has really struggled this year, slashing .238/.328/.308 with just three home runs and an underwhelming .635 OPS.