BALTIMORE — The Yankees promoted a top infield prospect on Friday, but the promotion may be too short a period to fully test his potential.
Jorbit Bivas was promoted from Triple-A to replace the injured J.D. Davis and join the team at Camden Yards and could make his major league debut this weekend against the Orioles.
But with the Yankees playing their final series before the All-Star break, manager Aaron Boone wouldn’t offer any further comment when asked what role he expects from the 23-year-old second and third baseman.
“He may start this weekend, but there’s no guarantee,” Boone said Friday. “We’re just going to play this weekend.” [out]”But he’s got power with the bat, he moves well and he’s a good athlete. There were probably a few guys on the short list, but he’s definitely a guy who deserves to be here.”
The left-handed hitter was batting .258 with an .828 OPS in 37 games with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, but has been on a roll recently, batting .333 with a 1.113 OPS and five home runs in his last 19 games.
Although he is a second baseman by trade, he has played more at third base recently and is still developing at that position, but Boone said he would be comfortable using him at third base in games if necessary.
With Gleyber Torres and DJ LeMahieu struggling offensively this season, the Yankees could have used Vivas in a platoon with both to test the young Venezuelan’s abilities.
However, Boone has made no such statement, and Davis will be eligible to come off injured reserve when the second half begins next Friday.
Still, Vivas, who was acquired from the Dodgers in exchange for prospect Trey Sweeney in exchange for designated for assignment relief pitcher Victor Gonzalez last December, was excited to await his debut at Camden Yards, especially given what he’s experienced since his last time with a major league team.
On the final day of spring training, Bivas was using a band while working out in the gym before a game when the band broke and struck him near his eye, causing a fracture to his left orbital bone.
“It was a very scary injury, very close to the eye,” Vivas said through a translator. “All things considered, it could have been a lot worse, but as tough as it is to go through a moment like that, I just wanted to keep training and get back on the field.”
Vivas appeared in two games in late April before returning to the disabled list due to injury complications, but returned to full strength in late May. His hitting has improved as he’s gotten more at-bats.
“When you get an injury like that … there’s always that feeling in the back of your mind that you might not be able to hit it as well as you were before,” SWB hitting coach Trevor Amicone said Friday. “It was scary and he’s had to deal with that and try to recover for weeks with that in the back of his mind. … I think it took him a little while to settle in from there the first few weeks, but he’s gotten used to a new organization, almost a new level, and now he’s doing what we expected him to do.”
The 5-foot-9 Vivas is known for his ability to swing the bat, and the organization believes he will be able to showcase that whenever he gets the chance to play at Yankee Stadium.
“We’ve got the hitter back that we thought we were getting in a trade the last couple weeks,” minor league hitting coordinator Joe Migliaccio said Friday. “He looks like he’s overswinging, but it’s actually controlled violence.”
