New York Yankees fans got a blast from the past on Tuesday during the team's spring training game against the Boston Red Sox. Former manager Joe Torre went out to make a pitching change, removing starting pitcher Max Fried from the game in the top of the fifth inning.

Torre managed the Yankees from 1996 to 2007, winning four World Series and six American League pennants in that time. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2014 and the Yankees retired his No. 6 the same year.

Since Torre left New York, the Yankees have stayed relevant, reaching the playoffs regularly, but they've won just one World Series, in 2009 under Joe Girardi's leadership. Current Yankees manager Aaron Boone got the team to the World Series in 2024 but the Yankees are still chasing their first championship in 16 years.

Nevertheless, Torre has praised the job Boone has done as manager. In an interview with the YES Network's Jack Curry, Torre praised the way Boone blends analytics with instincts and marveled at how he is a baseball lifer.

“There’s nothing Aaron hasn’t seen,” Torre said.

And for those cheeky Yankees fans who may be wondering, Torre called on reliever Geoff Hartlieb to replace Fried, not Scott Proctor.

The Yankees are optimistic after recent injury concerns

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The Yankees have been hit with several long-term injuries in spring training, namely to Giancarlo Stanton, Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil. If it's any consolation to Yankees fans, the two other injury concerns the team had on Monday have both gotten positive updates.

After the team yanked Paul Goldschmidt from the game on Monday with a sore back, he told reporters there was “zero” concern about his availability moving forward.

“In spring training, you just try to be smart,” he said via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. “This was probably a time [when] there’s no need to push through something and make it more sore.”

And starting pitcher Clarke Schmidt was a late scratch from the same game due to shoulder pain. He threw a bullpen session later on Monday and all went well.

“I wouldn’t be throwing if there was a concern of something major,” Schmidt said. “Last year, I had a little injury, and I threw through that for a few weeks. I ended up making a potentially smaller thing into a big issue, missing a couple of months. So, obviously, we’re trying to avoid that.”

Schmidt suddenly has a much more important role for the Yankees amid the Gil and Cole injuries. The Yankees can still look to add to their rotation but a trade for Dylan Cease does not seem likely.