Stanton will be activated soon

NEW YORK — Giancarlo Stanton will be back with the New York Yankees on Wednesday or Thursday, hoping to salvage an injury-decimated season.

Stanton has been limited to nine games this year and will see time at designated hitter and left field, an unsettled position for much of the season. The four-time All-Star strained his left biceps on March 31 in his third game, strained a shoulder and calf during his rehabilitation and returned June 18. Then in his sixth game back on, Stanton strained the posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during an awkward headfirst slide into third base on June 25.

Stanton is hitting .290 with one home run and seven RBIs. The 29-yearold, in his second season with the Yankees, had been working out at the team’s minor league complex in Tampa, Florida.

“I may build him up a little bit, so he could play a handful of innings and I might pull him,” manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday before the AL East-leading Yankees opener their final homestand of the regular season. “He’s racked up a lot of at-bats. He’s done all his defensive work. He’s really been bouncing back well the next day, feeling like his knee is where it needs to be. He’s been doing his baserunning and all his agility and conditioning. And the amount of at-bats that he’s been able to rack up I think has him feeling good.”

Brett Gardner made his 85th start in center field, shifted from left because of injuries to Aaron Hicks. After hurting his back during spring training batting practice on May 1, Hicks didn’t play his first game until May 18. Then he strained the flexor near his right elbow while making a throw on Aug. 3 and does not know whether he will need Tommy John surgery. Hicks is in Tampa.

“He is in the early stages of a throwing program,” Boone said. “Where that takes him and us we’ll just have to see.”