Bombers put Gary on hold

CLEARWATER — Gary Sanchez will not be back in a Grapefruit League game until at least Friday. The Yankees thought better of their plan to have the catcher with a tight/ sore back ramp up to play in today’s game against the Blue Jays before they left on an overnight, twoday trip to the east coast of Florida.

“Gary is better today. He’ll probably do some catching stuff today. We’ll probably hold on, I’m not gonna play him tomorrow,” Aaron Boone said. “So we’ll hold off on hitting him today. … I just wanted to hold off on tomorrow with us going across the state the next two days. I didn’t feel like I wanted to rush him back into games, so he’ll stay back.”

Boone explained Sanchez’s work back at Yankees spring camp will likely include catching for Adam Ottavino on Wednesday, taking live at bats Thursday, and being in the lineup for Friday’s game.

“I’m not real concerned at all. He’s doing better today. And I feel like if we were playing, he’d be in there,” Boone said.

Sanchez has not hit since Saturday, a day after his first time catching in back-to-back games, when he reported a tight back. Initially, Boone had pegged Monday’s game here in Clearwater for him to return.

The 27-year-old said Sunday he felt this was the right time of year for him to take time to make sure his back is healed and won’t bother him during the regular season.

Sanchez has lost time on the injured list for leg injuries and needed offseason shoulder surgery before last season, but this is his first reported back injury.