Didi Gregorius ended last year’s ALDS with a torn UCL that required surgery.
He entered this one against the Twins mired in an ugly slump.
Nevertheless, Yankees manager Aaron Boone went into Game 1 on Friday night in The Bronx believing the playoff intensity and atmosphere would benefit the shortstop.
“I just feel like he’s one of those guys that the bigger the stage, the brighter the lights, I feel like he thrives in that,’’ Boone said before the series opener, in which Gregorius hit eighth. “I feel like he’s been healthy now for a while and I feel like he’s a guy that [if he] has a good at-bat or two here, I think that’s something that can really propel him moving forward.