Aaron Boone says Gleyber Torres 'feels terrible' about jogging to first on strikeout/wild pitch
The Yankees' Gleyber Torres is booed after he struck out swinging against the Rays to end the seventh inning of an MLB game at Yankee Stadium on Saturday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
Manager Aaron Boone said Gleyber Torres "feels terrible" after jogging to first base and getting thrown out after a strikeout pitch got past Rays catcher Mike Zunino in the seventh inning of the Yankees’ 12-2 loss on Saturday.
Torres, who sped up a bit as he got closer to the base, was booed loudly after the gaffe. There was a runner on first at the time, but with two outs, the batter can reach on a strikeout/wild pitch even if first base is occupied. With less than two outs, the batter cannot take first on a strikeout/wild pitch.
"Well, first off, you’ve got to run," Boone said. "That’s the answer. He felt bad about it. I think what happened with him was with first base being occupied, his first reaction was you don’t go, but obviously with two outs, that’s different. So he kind of caught himself a third of the way down the line, like, ‘Oh, crap, I gotta go.’ But it’s something you’ve got to know and be on top of it, but it’s something he also feels terrible about and we’ve got to learn from."
Torres was not made available to reporters after the game.
Brett Gardner reached first base on a strikeout/wild pitch in the ninth, running hard all the way.
Boone said he didn’t consider taking out Torres as a disciplinary measure because he wanted to keep his bench whole in case he needed to use a position player to pitch in the lopsided game.
Boone said he would have used Anthony Rizzo, who pitched for the Cubs once in 2018 and once earlier this season. Rizzo is unscored upon in one total inning.
Sports hernia for DJ
The Yankees revealed that DJ LeMahieu’s hip pain is a sports hernia. Boone said LeMahieu got a cortisone shot on Friday and they hope he can play as soon as Sunday. Boone indicated LeMahieu will need surgery after the season.
"I think for DJ here over the last couple of weeks, there’s been days where it’s better," Boone said. "It’s something he’s obviously been able to manage and play well through. There’s been other times where it was just too limiting for him . . . He’s about as tough as they come. So he’s able to kind of manage and govern himself just about as well as anyone. But he’s also honest and there’s certain times where he just can’t press through."
LeMahieu left Thursday’s game in Toronto with what the Yankees called hip pain. The MLB batting average leader in 2020, when he hit .364 with a 1.011 OPS, LeMahieu is hitting .268 with 10 home runs and a .711 OPS in the first year of a six-year, $90 million contract.
Andrew Velazquez was called up from Triple-A. He started at shortstop and went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.
Albert Abreu was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to make room for Velazquez.
Voit update
Boone said Luke Voit (left knee inflammation) could be an option for the Yankees "potentially deeper in October. I think overall pretty good news on his knee. But . . . we’ll see how it kind of unfolds over that time."
Voit went on the injured list on Thursday for the fourth time this season.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
