The depleted Yankees bullpen got two reinforcements Friday off the COVID-19 list, which could also provide the lineup a shot in the arm by Sunday.

Jonathan Loaisiga and Nestor Cortes Jr., two of the six Yankees to test positive for COVID-19 in their most recent outbreak, were reinstated to the active roster Friday ahead of another matchup with the Red Sox at Fenway Park.

Loaisiga had been on the COVID-19 list since July 10. Cortes joined him there on July 15. Both pitchers were vaccinated.

“Obviously two guys that have been huge for us,” manager Aaron Boone said before Friday’s game.

The other four Yankees who remain on the COVID-19 IL are also getting closer to returns, led by Gio Urshela, who joined the team in Boston on Friday and could be activated in time for Sunday’s game.

“It was a boring 10 days,” Urshela said of his quarantine, which was spent in New York after he tested positive for COVID-19 a second time.

Urshela, who is vaccinated, said his second bout with the virus was “way different” than the first and felt like a regular cold. He worked out Thursday at Yankee Stadium and Friday at Fenway Park. The unwanted time off gave his balky knee some extra rest, but Urshela said he was “ready to get back.”

Aaron Judge and Kyle Higashioka are scheduled to arrive in Boston on Sunday to fly with the team to Tampa, where they will work out on Monday’s off day before determining their potential availability for the series against the Rays that begins Tuesday.

Reliever Wandy Peralta, meanwhile, has been at Yankee Stadium the past two days working out, but could need a rehab assignment since he had only pitched in two games after coming off the IL for a lower back strain before contracting the virus.

The return of Loaisiga and Cortes came at a time when dependable and fresh arms out of the bullpen were sorely needed. The Yankees lost Thursday’s series opener against the Red Sox after their relievers blew three separate leads. That included Brooks Kriske, who was one of the last options left to throw the 10th inning. The Yankees bullpen also handled a heavy workload during their two-game series against the Phillies earlier in the week.

Kriske and Nick Nelson were optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to make room for Loaisiga and Cortes.

Given the state of the bullpen, both Loaisiga and Cortes could be thrown back into the fire right away. Loaisiga, who has emerged as a key late-inning arm this season with a 2.11 ERA, threw a bullpen session on Wednesday, while Cortes had thrown “a couple” over the last several days, according to Boone.

“[It’s] not a perfect world,” Boone said. “You’d love to have some more buildup or whatever, but feel like physically they’re sound and mentally ready to go. Hopefully we can find them into a game where they get comfortable early and start back to being what they’ve been for us throughout the year.”

Cortes could offer some length out of the bullpen before slotting back in as a fifth starter next week, a role in which the funky right-hander had fared well for two starts (one run over eight innings) before going on the COVID-19 IL. The Yankees won’t need another fifth starter until next Saturday in Miami at the latest.

“I could definitely envision that,” Boone said. “But a lot does play into how we need him here, what it looks like with him, how much built up we feel like he is. But yeah, after this off day Monday, then we head into a stretch of a lot of games in a row where we’re going to need that fifth starter or something in that fifth spot. Nestor would be a logical choice.”

— Additional reporting by Dan Martin in Boston