Stanton inching closer to much-needed return
A major reinforcement is closing in on his return.
Giancarlo Stanton will return to The Bronx for workouts Monday and Tuesday with the potential for him to be activated at the start of the Yankees’ 10-game road trip against the A’s on Thursday.
Stanton, out since July 23 due to a left Achilles injury, went 0-for-4 with a strikeout as the designated hitter for Double-A Somerset on Sunday after going 0-for-3 for the minor league team on Saturday. Stanton will hit against rehabbing right-hander Luis Severino (right lat strain) in a live batting practice Tuesday.
“Hopefully we’ll be in a good spot there,” manager Aaron Boone said before the Yankees’ 4-2 victory over the Blue Jays prevented a fourgame sweep. “If we feel like that’s enough and he feels like that’s enough, we’ll go from there.”
The Yankees have badly missed his big bat in the middle of their lineup. An All-Star for the fifth time in his career, Stanton had 24 home runs, 61 RBIs and an .807 OPS in 80 games before getting hurt.
➤ Boone’s postgame press conference outburst following Saturday’s loss wasn’t a motivational tactic, he insisted. When the manager slammed the table in the interview room as he was peppered with questions about the Yankees’ growing problems, he was merely reacting to the concerning situation in front of him.
“I don’t necessarily like coming up here and getting upset or getting frustrated, but I also try to be authentic with our team, with our players. I’m human,” he said. “As much as I try to be as steady as I can be, you go through things during the course of the year that allow some things out.”
The usually even-keeled Boone, who has known to get upset from time to time in support of his players — remember his “Savages in the Box” rant? — let his emotions get the best of him.
“We try to always have a consistency with the way we do things and the way we prepare and the way we respond no matter what we’re going through,” Boone said. “But there are human moments like me getting upset yesterday.”
➤ Right-handed reliever Clay Holmes now thrown on back-toback days and may be ready to come off the 15-day injured list when he is eligible to return at the end of the month from back tightness . ... Left-handed reliever Zack Britton (elbow) threw an 18-pitch live batting practice on Saturday. Boone is unsure if Britton, who underwent elbow surgery last September, will start a rehabilitation assignment next . ... The Yankees placed reliever Albert Abreu on the injured list with right elbow inflammation and recalled right-hander Luke Bard from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre before Sunday’s game.