Yankees’ top prospect Gleyber Torres will undergo Tommy John surgery

When bad luck rains, it pours. That’s certainly the case for the Yankees right now. Fresh off losing their sixth game in a row, news that their top prospect will be out for the rest of the season was just salt in the wound. Shortstop Gleyber Torres, the best player in the Yankees’ system, needs Tommy John surgery.

Torres was injured in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s game on Sunday after a collision with the Buffalo Bisons’ catcher. He immediately grabbed for his elbow and left the game. Torres was diagnosed with a hyperextended elbow and placed on the disabled list, but further tests revealed a much bigger problem. MRI results showed that Torres tore the UCL in his left, non-throwing arm.

At just 20 years old, Torres was off to a great start in Triple-A after being promoted from Double-A already this season. In 23 games for the RailRiders, Torres was batting .309/.406/.457, and looked like he could contribute to the big league club at some point this season. Now any contributions he makes will have to wait until at least spring training 2018.

The silver lining here is that Torres’ injury is to his non-throwing arm, and that he isn’t a pitcher. Recovery time for Tommy John with those qualifiers is only about two and a half months. Yes, he’ll miss the rest of this season. Yes, the Yankees may eventually need third base help down the line before the year is out. Torres is still so far ahead of the game for players his age that this shouldn’t be more than a small bump in the road.

Third baseman Miguel Andujar was promoted to Triple-A as a result of Torres’ injury. He was batting .312/.342/.494 for the Trenton Thunder this season. Hopefully he can shine in Gleyber’s absence in case the Yankees do need to turn to their system for a possible Chase Headley replacement at some point this year.

Losing Torres is a disappointing blow for the Yankees this year, but it’s not an overly detrimental one, all things considered.