Yankees Reinstate Gleyber Torres From COVID IL

Gleyber Torres has been reinstated from the COVID IL and will make his return to the starting lineup on Wednesday night.

"Obviously glad to have him back," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said before first pitch on Wednesday. "Certainly excited to put him back in the lineup.

Torres traveled to Texas on Tuesday after he was cleared to reunite with his teammates as New York begins the second half of a four-game set against the Rangers. He was previously quarantining in Tampa after testing positive for COVID-19 midway through last week.

The 24-year-old was among the nine total individuals in the Yankees organization that contracted the virus during New York's outbreak. Each positive test was a "breakthrough" case as all nine had received the COVID vaccine.

Eventually, the Yankees will need to make a decision as to which player they'll demote to free up a spot for Torres on the active roster. For now, the corresponding move was to place Rougned Odor on the paternity list. The second baseman's wife gave birth to a baby girl last night.

Rougned Odor is on the paternity list. He and his wife welcomed in a baby girl last night, Aaron Boone said.

That's the corresponding move to Gleyber Torres' return from the COVID IL.
— Max Goodman (@MaxTGoodman) May 19, 2021

Now that Torres is back, the shortstop will look to recapture the momentum he began to establish at the plate before he was sidelined by the virus.

Torres was hitting .277 (13-for-47) over his previous 12 games leading up to the Yankees' outbreak. He even hit his first home run of the season—ending a 148 at-bat drought—back on May 9.

New York has been banged up of late, losing both Giancarlo Stanton (quad strain) and Aaron Hicks (torn sheath in left wrist) to the injured list. Getting Torres and Odor back from their respective stints on the injured list this week is certainly a step in the right direction, though.

By the looks of a post on Torres' Instagram, his teammates also had some fun with the shortstop's return from his positive diagnosis. A hazmat suit was hanging on the outside of his locker in the visitor's clubhouse on Wednesday afternoon.

The Yankees put a hazmat suit, hand sanitizer and a pile of masks in Gleyber Torres’ locker since he’s just returning from COVID today 🤣 pic.twitter.com/FeY5t1rgpY
— Talkin' Yanks (@TalkinYanks) May 19, 2021

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