Slumping Gleyber Torres might be breaking out

Plenty of Yankees are underperforming, but maybe none as glaringly as Gleyber Torres.

The shortstop was in a 4-for-51 skid in his last 14 games entering Tuesday night’s contest against the Angels at the Stadium. His batting average had fallen to .238 and his personal power outage had him at just three home runs.

Boone sought to give Torres a mental break last week with a day off against the Royals. Asked before the game if perhaps more than one might help, he replied, "I haven't considered that yet. . . . I was really encouraged over the weekend with his at-bats [in Boston] and then [Monday] he was a little off balance again."

Torres did better on Tuesday, going 2-for-4 with a two-run single in the fourth inning of the Yankees' 11-5 victory, giving him his first RBI since June 6.

"I think this was big," manager Aaron Boone said. "[He] identified some things and he’s working hard to unlock it."

Boone said before the game that when Torres looks good "I can see him kind of loading on that back side and staying behind the ball really well, his posture and everything is strong as he’s going through the zone." Instead what he’s seeing these days is "he’s been a little bit off [to] where he’s losing some of his posture at times, getting off balance."

Boone added that he didn’t think Torres’ swing needed the kind of mechanical reconstruction that helped Gary Sanchez get on his current tear.

Britton could have quick stay on IL

Zack Britton could get back from the 10-day injured list in the minimum amount of time. The lefthanded reliever exited Saturday’s loss in Boston after grabbing his left hamstring after a pitch. He had an MRI exam on Monday and Boone said that it is "Grade 1 or 1-plus."

Boone said that Britton will throw a bullpen session on Thursday and that "so far, even from the first day out, he was able to get out and move around and even run. In just a few days here, we're encouraged."

Futures looking bright

Yankees top prospect Jasson Dominguez has been chosen to play in the All-Star Futures Game, according to a report on MLB.com. The 18-year-old outfielder made his first professional appearance on Monday for the Florida Complex League Yankees.

He will be the youngest player to appear in the Futures Game since an 18-year-old Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was in the 2017 showcase. He also is the first player named to appear in it without having played a full professional season.

Extra bases

Righty reliever Darren O’Day, who was on the IL since the start of May with a right rotator cuff strain, was reinstated before Tuesday’s game. Boone suggested that O’Day would immediately be a candidate for high-leverage situations with Chad Green unavailable after pitching 2 1/3 innings on Monday. . . . Lefty reliever Justin Wilson, on the IL with a right hamstring strain, was expected to be activated Tuesday but wasn’t. Boone said it was to give him an extra day off and that he would come off the IL for Wednesday’s game. . . . According to Japanese news outlets, Hideki Matsui will be at Yankee Stadium on Wednesday for the game against Los Angeles. Matsui reportedly wants to be there to watch Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani pitch.

By Roger Rubin

roger.rubin@newsday.com@rogrubin

Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.