NEW YORK -- The last two months have been an emotional roller coaster for Ronald Torreyes. But after making it through a stint in the Minors and helping his wife through a health issue at home, the Yankees infielder is excited to be back in pinstripes.
Torreyes was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on June 18, and he played five games there before being placed on the temporarily inactive list so he could be home with his wife, who was experiencing an undisclosed health problem. Although Torreyes did not say what his wife was dealing with, he did say that she is much better now.
"The most I want to say about that is thank God that everything's fine, she's fine," Torreyes said. "I'm happy that things worked out very well. Just happy that nothing bad happened to her, because she's been there for me throughout my career. Just happy that she's fine."
Torreyes was then assigned to Class A Advanced Tampa a month later for a brief stint before returning to the RailRiders on July 30. He has hit .252 with nine RBIs in 30 Minor League games this season and had a .323 batting average with six RBIs in his first 24 games with the Yankees.
"I just want to keep doing what I've been doing for this team," Torreyes said. "Being there for the team in any way possible, being there for my teammates, bringing a little bit of energy and joy to the clubhouse and team, but that's it. That's something that I've been doing since I got here ... and I just want to be able to continue to do that."
When Torreyes was sent down to Triple-A, Yankees fans were disappointed in losing one of their favorite players for an unknown amount of time. Torreyes said those fans continued to show their support for him over the last few months.
"Fans have a loud voice, so when I was down there, I received a lot of messages from a lot of fans of encouraging words saying, 'Keep doing your thing, you'll be back,'" Torreyes said. "And now that I'm up here, the messages are still coming. They are saying, 'Hey, you're finally back.' It serves as motivation to see that somehow you matter to so many different people, some people that you don't even know."
Torreyes made his first big league start in just over two months on Wednesday to spell a slumping Gleyber Torres, who has hit .145 in 19 games since returning from the disabled list on July 25.
"I just wanted to give [Torres] a day," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "I feel like he's just pressing a little bit up there, chasing that hit if you will. I don't feel like he's far off. I feel like physically he's in a pretty good place. Just felt like he's been grinding pretty hard at the plate right now, so just a day to kind of catch his breath and hopefully find that good timing that I know is right around the corner for him. And it's a day to get Toe in there and get him involved."
Roster move
To make room for Luis Cessa on the 25-man roster for Wednesday's start against the Rays, the Yankees designated right-hander George Kontos for assignment.
Kontos was acquired in a trade with the Indians on Aug. 4, and the Yankees selected his contract from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Monday. Kontos made just one appearance in pinstripes, tossing 1 2/3 scoreless innings in Monday's 8-5 loss to the Mets.
This date in Yankees history
Aug. 15, 1955: Mickey Mantle homered from both sides of the plate for the second time in his career in a 12-6 victory at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium in Game 2 of a doubleheader sweep of the Orioles.