Yankees place Gleyber Torres on IL as Gio Urshela has setback
KANSAS CITY — The undermanned Yankees got even more shorthanded Monday, as Gleyber Torres became the latest to land on the injured list, the team announced Monday.
The shortstop was placed on the 10-day IL with a sprained left thumb suffered during Sunday’s loss to the Mariners in The Bronx.
To make matters worse, Gio Urshela suffered a setback in his comeback from a hamstring injury Sunday and is not expected to rejoin the team this week, Aaron Boone said prior to Monday’s series opener against the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
Boone said Urshela felt something while taking grounders Sunday in The Bronx.
“I don’t think it’s that serious,’’ Boone said. “He was in line back with us and in the lineup Wednesday and that’s not gonna happen now. … I don’t anticipate him being with us this week.”
Boone added he didn’t believe Urshela was back to where he started when he originally suffered the injury and didn’t think he would need an MRI exam.
Torres is due to see hand specialists to determine the full extent of his injury, with Boone saying he thought Torres would miss between 10-20 days, depending on the further test results.
Still, he added the team got “good news” regarding the injury Sunday night.
Torres was at Yankee Stadium doing some rehab work on Monday.
“He’s feeling better,’’ Boone said. “We were kind of expecting the worst and probably got some pretty good news.”
To take Torres’ spot on the roster, the Yankees brought up Bronx native and Fordham Prep product Andrew Velazquez from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Velazquez started at short on Monday.
“He’s here with the expectation of continuing to win ballgames,’’ Boone said of Velazquez, 27, praising his hitting at SWB this season, as well as his defense at short.
Torres suffered the injury diving into second base on a steal in the fourth inning. Although he was wearing a protective mitt on his right hand, Torres dove in with his bare left hand and came up in pain.
After initially staying in the game — and going 3-for-4 — the shortstop was pulled in the ninth inning for Tyler Wade following a strikeout in the bottom of the eighth.
Torres joins Urshela and Aroldis Chapman (elbow) on the IL, as well as players out with COVID: Gerrit Cole, Jordan Montgomery, Gary Sanchez and Anthony Rizzo.
In total, the Yankees have now sent 15 players to the IL just since the All-Star break.
For Torres, it’s the latest bit of bad news in a terrible season. After struggling at the plate for much of the year, Torres was 11-for-28 with four doubles and five RBIs in his previous eight games.
The loss of Torres made for another opportunity for one of their minor leaguers in Velazquez, who had been on the team’s taxi squad.
Velazquez grew up a Yankee fan and said becoming a Yankee was something “I kind of felt I manifested since I was a child.”
He was a fan of Derek Jeter and often went to games at Yankee Stadium.
“This is where my love for baseball began,’’ Velazquez said of the Yankees. “I texted [my parents after getting the news] just so I could calm down a little.”