Yankees recall Gleyber Torres from Triple-A

The Yankees will recall infielder Gleyber Torres from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before Sunday’s game against the Blue Jays, as the New York Post’s Joel Sherman first reported Saturday.

The Yankees needed to keep Torres, who is rated as their top prospect and the No. 5 prospect in baseball by MLB Pipeline, in the minors until at least April 18 in order to gain an extra year of contractual control over him. The young infielder is by no means being promoted just because of his hefty prospect billing, however. He posted a ridiculous .370/.415/.543 slash line with one homer and 11 RBI over 53 Triple-A plate appearances this season — a feat that was extra impressive considering that Torres hadn’t played since mid-June of 2017 due to a UCL tear that forced him to undergo Tommy John surgery on his non-throwing arm.

Torres has experience at second base, third base, and shortstop and has seen action at all three of those positions this season at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. While he’s seen the majority of his action at third this year, Sherman suggested that he may start at second on Sunday — a move that would certainly make sense considering the lack of consistent production the Yankees have gotten from that position this season. Utility man Ronald Torreyes has gotten off to a hot start and has received two straight starts there, but there’s not much of an expectation that he’ll be the everyday answer at second.

With Torres joining the club, the Yankees could option second baseman Tyler Wade — who has posted a disastrous .086/.158/.143 slash line over 38 plate appearances — to Triple-A. While rookie third baseman Miguel Andujar has seemingly done enough to earn a longer look, he could be at risk because of his youth and the fact that he has options remaining, and utility man Jace Peterson — whom the Yankees have already designated for assignment once this season — could also be a candidate to be removed from the roster.

While Neil Walker will almost surely remain on the roster for now, it should be interesting to see how much patience the Yankees have with the 32-year-old considering that he’s hitting just .183/.246/.217 and is signed to a team-friendly one-year deal. It’s certainly not difficult to envision a scenario where the Yankees employ a regular infield consisting of Greg Bird, Torres, Didi Gregorius, and either Andujar or Brandon Drury later this season, and while Walker’s versatility will help him out, it wouldn’t be hard for the Yankees to cut bait.