CHICAGO _ It's so close that Aaron Boone can wait. After nearly three months hoping for some of his biggest stars to come back from injury, the Yankees manager is just excited that slugger Giancarlo Stanton is so close to making his return.
But he can wait the extra few days for Stanton, who crushed a three-run homer in a minor league rehab game with Triple-A Scranton on Friday, to finish up his three-game stint with the Rail Riders.
"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 back-to-back rigors, how the body responds to that and obviously coming back from soft-tissue 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.
Stanton played in all of three games this season.
Aaron Judge, who went 0 for 3 with three strikeouts in the same minor league game on Friday, 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.
