TORONTO — Gleyber Torres’ “reset” lasted two games before he returned to the Yankees’ lineup on Friday night.
After Aaron Boone gave him two days off because he felt the second baseman’s rough start to the season was weighing on him, Torres was back in the lineup to face Blue Jays left-hander Yusei Kikuchi in the second game of a four-game set at Rogers Centre.
“We all know what he’s capable of, he knows what he’s capable of,” Boone said before the game. “That doesn’t mean you go out and get a result right away. It’s too fickle of a game in that way. Hopefully just in a good place physically and mentally to go out there and contribute to winning baseball.
“Hopefully this is something that serves him well, serves us well having a couple days to reset. But there’s never any guarantees, either.”
Torres said Thursday night he used the two days to work in the batting cage, trying to fix his swing that he felt had gotten out of whack.
The 27-year-old, who is a pending free agent, entered Friday batting .215 with a .628 OPS on the season.
Clarke Schmidt’s shutdown is finished.
Nearly four weeks since he last pitched in a game and was diagnosed with a lat strain a few days later, Schmidt began playing catch on Monday and was expected to throw again on Friday.
The right-hander likely will need at least four weeks to build back up, giving him a chance to return at some point in August if all goes well.
Giancarlo Stanton (hamstring) also has started to do some physical activity, including getting on the treadmill on Thursday.
“Not a lot, but moving now,” Boone said.
In what has been a brutal stretch for the Yankees, Phil Bickford unintentionally provided some levity on Thursday night.
In the fifth inning of the Yankees’ 9-2 loss, Boone had walked out to the mound, where Carlos Rodon eventually talked his way into staying in the game to finish out the frame.
But Bickford thought he was coming in, so he began to run in from the bullpen, only to make it about halfway through right field before turning and running back to the bullpen.
Boone did not see it until after the game, but was able to get a chuckle out of it.
“Obviously [Thursday] night wasn’t a great night for us, but I did get some enjoyment in seeing the video of him realizing that, kind of panicking and sprinting back to the bullpen,” Boone said with a grin. “That was kind of fun.”
Fortunately for Rodon, who went on to finish the inning, Bickford did not get far enough onto the field for the umpires to force the Yankees to make a pitching change.
“Hey, I like the fact that he wanted in there and let’s go,” Boone said. “In fairness, I told him to be ready for the next hitter.”