Stanton could be back Tuesday

CHICAGO — It’s so close that Aaron Boone can wait. After nearly three months waiting for some of his biggest stars to come back from injury, the Yankees manager is excited that slugger Giancarlo Stanton is close to making his return.

But he can wait for Stanton, who went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts Saturday night,, to finish up his threegame stint with the Railriders.

“Trying to be pretty disciplined with the plan, making sure, because now, we feel the fact he feels good is a good thing,” Boone said before Saturday night’s game against the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field. “Now it’s just building him up and the backto-back rigors, how the body responds to that and obviously coming back from softtissue issues we’re making sure he’s running a lot and getting his defensive work in. Tonight, he’s playing in left field.

“No real temptation (to bring him back sooner), knowing, especially, that it’s around the corner now.”

The Yankees are hopeful Stanton will be activated off the injured list as soon as Tuesday. They are also very well aware that his rehab could go wrong, again. He began his IL stint with a left biceps strain on April 1, four games into the season. He was then being treated for a strained left shoulder. As he was finally getting ready to ramp up and return, before a minor league rehab game he strained his left calf.

Aaron Judge, went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts in the same minor league game Saturday, is further away, but is expected back before the Yankees leave for London on June 27. He will play in the outfield on Sunday, another step forward in his comeback

from a left oblique strain.

A DAY DOWN

Gio Urshela, who has committed errors in his last two starts, was not in the lineup on Saturday. The third baseman allowed a ball to get under his glove, which led to a White Sox run in the Yankees 10-2 loss Friday night.

Boone said it’s part of what will be a normal rotation of days off for his infielders, which was the plan when they signed DJ LeMahieu this winter.

Urshela, however, has also hit a skid at the plate in June. With pitchers adapting to throw him more breaking stuff, Urshela, who was an offensive surprise early this year replacing the injured Miguel Andujar, has hit just .179 in June after hitting .338 though April and May. During the Yankees 11-game slump, Urshela is hitting .171/.244/.371.

OPENING EYES

Chad Green was terrific as the Yankees “opener,” Saturday night. The right hander, whoa has been the opener five times this season, pitched two strong innings, striking out six of the seven batters he faced. He has struck out 12 and allowed two hits over his last five innings pitched as an opener and owns a 0.99 ERA over his last seven outings since May 27.

Nestor Cortes, Jr. followed with five solid outings, running out gas in the eighth inning to end up charged with two runs on six hits. He recorded a career-high seven strikeouts and earned his first big league win.

While the Yankees are 5-0 in Green’s “opener,” games, Boone clearly sees it simply as a stopgap to get the Yankees through this injury plague.

“When Greenie is rested like that and right now obviously we only have four starters so it’s necessary,” Boone said.