BOSTON In taking playful jabs at his friends and former teammates, at anyone behind their backs. Gleyber Torres was on the text thread on which Severino said he was not afraid of the Yankees because right now, you only have Sem Robberse Jersey two good hitters. Severino was ribbing his good friends, but good jokes often communicate a certain truth. And the truth is that Torres had been having an awful contract season. Gleyber Torres has had a strong week, including a 3-for-5 day at the plate in Boston on Friday night. Charles Wenzelberg/New York Post But if there is hope for a third, in-house hitter to emerge on a team that has been , the best bet is with Torres, who is just 27 and not far removed from being one of the best second basemen in the game. Explore More The Yankees and Torres hope he has begun to turn a corner. Since a two-game benching in late June that manager following both a rough slide and a particularly rough game in a lo s to the Mets in which and did not run out a ground out the Torres of old has reappeared. Gleyber Torres batting averaged sat at .215 through the first 80 games but has climbed to .237 through Friday. Getty Images In 80 games before the break, Torres hit .215 with a .628 OPS. He raised those figures to .237 and .681, respectively, over the next 19 games, including a 3-for-5 night with a double in the Yankees 9-7 on Friday night. See Also Hopefully those are little victories that help get a guy settled, Boone said before beginning the series at Fenway Park. When youve had a year when its not up to what youve done in the past the game gets real hard and mental and youre fighting through different things and trying to make adjustments. But its also those little small things sometimes that can start to snowball and get you clicking and back to the player we know you are. Boone has talked with Torres over the past week and reminded him of the player who he is a two-time All-Star who arguably was the Yankees most consistent hitter as recently as last season. During the first three months of this season, Torres was unable to get going and slid from leadoff toward the bottom of the order. The recent downturn of the other hitters not names Judge and Soto has shined a spotlight on Torres, who is the type of slugger who can get hot and offer real lineup protection. Torres was bounced up to leadoff on Wednesday before sliding into the No. 5-hole Friday. I like what Ive seen the last couple of days, Ill say that, Boone said of Torres. And I felt like [Wednesday], I just felt like his energy was good. His presence in the box was good. Go beyond the box score with the Bombers Sign up for Inside the Yankees by Greg Joyce, exclusively on Sports+. Thank you By clicking above you agree to the and . Enjoy this Post Sports+ exclusive newsletter! The numbers have begun to tick back up in what is personally the most important season of his career. Torres will hit free agency at years end, and the second half of this season will play a large part in the kind of contract offers he gets. During the Subway Series, Severino glanced up at the scoreboard and saw Torres stat line. Gleyber Torres homered against the Mets in both games of the Subway Series this week. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post Severino has not spent a ton of time watching the Yankees because he has been busy with the Mets, but he could tell Torres has been having the kind of contract season that Severino himself had last year, when the then-Yankees righty pitched to a 6.65 ERA. Severino plans on talking to Torres about free agency at some point. If Torres uptick continues, that conversation would be much lighter. We havent talked about that yet, Severino said. But I think the opportunity will come, maybe in the offseason when everythings over. Giovanny Gallegos Jersey