DETROIT-- One of Yankees GM Brian Cashman most-trusted lieutenants was dispatched to Charlotte this past weekend to get more good looks at their top prospect, one of the best in baseball.

VP of baseball operation Tim Naehring has been writing up glowing reports on Gleyber Torres, who is hitting .385 in 10 International League games through Sunday with a homer and 10 RBIs playing some shortstop, a little second base, and as of last Tuesday, nothing but third.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone was asked again Sunday what the organization is seeing from Torres, a 21-year-old infielder who might be just a few days away from debuting in the majors.

"I think he's playing well," Boone said after the Yankees and Detroit Tigers' spllt doubleheader was rained out. "I think the last couple of days have been better. I've been watching a lot of his at-bats. He's been getting his hits early, but I don't think he was locked in by any means yet."

All along, this has been the week that Torres becomes a realistic possibility for a first big-league call-up. By waiting until this Wednesday, the Yankees can push back Torres' first shot at free agency until after the 2024 season instead of 2023.

The Yankees are off Wednesday, so maybe Torres debuts Thursday night at Yankee Stadium against the Toronto Blue Jays.

If not Thursday, maybe Torres' big day comes next weekend.

After all, the Yankees seemingly have a spot open for Torres with third baseman Brandon Drury on the DL after struggling and rookie Miguel Andujar not setting the world on fire as a replacement.

"I would say anything's possible and we have conversations about that kind of thing," Boone said. "Possible? Yes. Likely? Not necessarily."

Hmmm.

Why not necessarily?

Torres isn't quite big-league ready yet?

"I think there's a lot that goes into it as far as evaluating him," Boone added. "We see he's getting a couple hits a game. Is he where we think we want him to be physically? Is he having the at-bats that we want him to have to where he's ready to come up and impact us.

"And with a guy that we think is going to be such an important part of our organization for a long time, we want to feel really good that he's in a really good place when we do bring him here because he's not a guy that we want to just pull up to plug a hole for a second and go back and forth (between Triple-A and the Yankees) for a while. We want him to be in a good place, so when he comes up here he's ready to impact our club for the long haul."

A natural shortstop, Torres competed for the Yankees' open second base job this spring, but he was farmed out early after not hitting much in the Grapefruit League.

With Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Torres made three starts at shortstop and one at second in his first four games before moving to third for starts there last Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. In Wednesday's game, he also played third after pinch-hitting.

All of this recent action at third seems to be a strong hint that the Yankees are preparing Torres to play third.

Could he be there long-term?

Maybe. Drury, after all, didn't look good in the field (3 errors, 18 chances) and at the plate (.217, 23 ABs) before he went on the DL two Saturdays ago due to severe migraines and blurry vision, issues that bothered him for years but were news to the Yankees, who acquired him from Arizona in February.

Drury has progressed enough that he'll take BP at Yankee Stadium on Monday before the Yankees' game, but his starting job seems to be in jeopardy due to Torres' progress.

Another possibility is Torres plays third until Drury is healthy, then he takes over at second, a spot currently being filled by two players who haven't been hitting much, youngster Tyler Wade (.094, 11 games) and veteran Neil Walker (.188, 12 games), the latter of whom also is sharing first base with Tyler Austin.

"I would say because of (Torres') versatility, he gives us an option at a lot of different places," Boone said. "I think ideally when he came up here up you would have him at one spot, but we feel good enough about his versatility that whatever that spot we feel comfortable that he's going to be a plus guy at that spot."

Torres is close to a five-tool prospect. He's just an average runner, but he checks all of the other boxes - hitting, hitting for power, fielding and throwing arm - plus he brings intangibles such as great instincts and maturity.

His spring struggles probably at least partly were due to rustiness, as he missed the second half of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery on his non-throwing elbow.

He's now healthy and playing like he's Major League ready. After going 0-for-4 on Opening Day, he hit a two-run homer in game two and was 4-for-5 in game three. In his last four games, he's 7-for-15 with two doubles and six RBIs.

"It's something that we obviously watch closely, but to see him playing well and healthy and off to a good start is something we certainly take notice of," Boone said.

Randy Miller may be reached at rmiller@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.