BOSTON — Regardless of whether the Yankees strike a deal or not, the team plans on adding a bat to its active roster before the July 30 trade deadline.
While nothing is set in stone, the plan is for Giancarlo Stanton to come off the injured list on Monday. The Yankees begin a three-game series against the Phillies that night.
“He will probably be back or shoot for Monday in Philly,” Aaron Boone said Friday before the Yankees started a series in Boston. “But we’ll see how these next couple days go.”
Asked if that means Stanton, recovering from a hamstring strain, won’t go on a rehab assignment, Boone said “we’ll see.”
“I know he’s doing a heavy day back [in New York] today. So let’s get through that and see where we’re at,” the manager continued. “He’s pretty much done everything he needs to do. Now it’s about building a little bit of volume.
“It’s one thing to be able to get to do it, but when you’re training for a race or a marathon, you’ve got to build that endurance too. So right now, it’s about stacking days of volume and then seeing how the bounce-back is.”
Stanton has been out June 23. Prior to that, he was enjoying a productive season with a .246/.302/.492 slash line, 18 homers and 45 RBI.
Stanton has had down years following injuries the past two seasons, so the Yankees are hoping history doesn’t repeat itself. They can’t afford that, as their offense has been awful outside of Juan Soto and Aaron Judge with the designated hitter on the shelf.
Excluding the second and third spots of the order, which Soto and Judge typically occupy, the Yankees entered Friday with a .209/.287/.347 slash line and an 83 wRC+ since Stanton went on the IL.
Those numbers all ranked toward the bottom of the league, but Boone said that the lineup’s struggles haven’t impacted Stanton’s timeline.
“If those were the case, we’d rush him in there today,” Boone said. “He’s physically probably at that point, but we want to make sure he’s in a really good spot and ready to have the best opportunity to not only be successful, but to sustain it too.”
Domínguez Activated at Triple-A
The RailRiders activated Jasson Domínguez (oblique) off the IL at Triple-A on Friday. They had the top prospect leading off and DH’ing.
Asked if Domínguez will play full games right away, Boone said he wasn’t sure of the outfielder’s plans for the next few days. He could be another internal upgrade to the lineup, though the Yankees don’t seem to be in a rush to promote the 21-year-old.
Domínguez had only played in 23 games prior to Friday, as he underwent Tommy John surgery last September.
New Dad Still on Leave
Boone also hopes to have Matt Blake back on Sunday or Monday. The pitching coach has been away from the team since Wednesday, as his wife gave birth to their first child, a girl, on Thursday morning.
Boone said that the newborn and Blake’s wife are healthy and doing well.
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