Grisham still getting used to role as fourth outfielder

TORONTO — Trent Grisham racked up 500-plus plate appearances in each of the last three seasons before becoming a Yankee.

On Monday, despite starting for the second time in three days, he was in the lineup for just the fourth time in the Yankees’ 17th game of the season, a 3-1 loss to the Blue Jays.

As the Yankees’ fourth outfielder, Grisham has had to adjust to a change of pace this season, though manager Aaron Boone has continued to say he expects the defensively gifted center fielder to play a big role over the course of the year.

“He has been a guy that’s played every day, but that’s obviously not the situation [here] and you gotta make the most of it,” Boone said before the game at Rogers Centre. “I think from an attitude standpoint and a work standpoint, it’s been excellent. Just because you haven’t done it before doesn’t mean you can’t thrive in that role either. That’s the expectation.

“He hasn’t had a lot of run yet, but there’s no reason to think he can’t be really valuable in a smaller role. But you know that could inevitably change at any moment.”

Grisham went 0-for-2 with a walk and was thrown out trying to steal second base with one out in the fifth inning and Anthony Volpe at the plate. He is 0-for-10 with two walks and four strikeouts on the season.

Grisham was starting Monday because Boone wanted to get Aaron Judge a day at DH during the three-game series on the turf. He picked Monday to do so, with the left-handed hitting Grisham getting a chance to face righthander Chris Bassitt and Giancarlo Stanton moving to the bench.

“I didn’t want to have Judge on the carpet all three days, especially with a day game after a night game in there,” Boone said. “And it gets [Grisham] a second start in three days, so hopefully get him going a little bit.”

➤ Gerrit Cole threw from 60 feet Sunday before taking Monday off. He is expected to throw again Tuesday.

“He’ll continue throwing this week and upping the — he’s upped the volume a little bit already, but I think he gets out to 75 [feet] and beyond moving forward this week,” Boone said.

➤ Volpe singled in the third inning and stole his sixth base of the season. He has hit safely in 12 of his 16 games, batting .373 with a 1.006 OPS. … Ron Marinaccio, called up from Triple-A on Saturday, threw two efficient innings in relief of Luis Gil. “I like how he’s getting the fastball more consistently to where he wants to get it,” Boone said.