BOSTON _ Brett Gardner repeated the tests in the outfield for the third straight day, but still could not convince Aaron Boone that he is ready to play. After missing four straight games with inflammation in his left knee, Gardner was finally placed on the injured list before Thursday night's series-opener against the Red Sox at Fenway Park.
"He went out there again today and did his early work where he was running and running through some drills and stuff. I thought he looked pretty good, actually. I do feel like it's a day-to-day situation, but we're just at that point where it's five days now and kind of taking a little bit of the long view," the Yankees manager said. "It's like, could we grind through this right now? Maybe, but then it's something that's probably lingering throughout the year. I felt like the smart thing to do was give it a few more days here and hopefully we can backdate it a few days here, and then coming out of the offday at home next week he'll be ready to go and this is behind him, and not something that lingers."
Interestingly, the Yankees chose to play short a position player Thursday night instead of calling up controversial prospect Clint Frazier. The Yankees bolstered their bullpen after some heavy usage in the three games in Minnesota by adding lefty Stephen Tarpley for Thursday night's game.
"I felt like we needed the coverage tonight as much as we used the pen this past week," Boone explained. "We just felt for tonight it was better to have another arm in here."
That left them with just the three outfielders starting Thursday, meaning they would have to revert to an emergency outfielder if one got hurt.
"We're kind of working through that," Boone said. "It could be Gio (Urshela) We'll figure it out."
Boone said that Cameron Maybin, who has been on the IL with a strained left calf since June 23, could be activated soon.
"He DHed again today. Got six at-bats, a couple knocks. It sounds like he's doing really well. I think he's going to play nine innings in the field tomorrow," Boone said. "He's doing well and I would say really close, potentially an option really soon here."
While Boone said that prospect Clint Frazier "is in consideration," the play of Mike Tauchman and the potential of having Maybin back are making his return seem unlikely.
"He's been swinging the bat. He was struggling a little bit there swinging for a while," Boone said. "This last week, he's had some really big games down there. The reports have been good on him. He's a consideration if we needed something."
In 53 games with the Yankees, Frazier, whose name has been mentioned in the trade rumors leading into next week's trade deadline, was hitting .283/.330/.513 with 11 homers and 34 RBIs.
Frazier's inability to play defense, however, was an issue for the Yankees. His three blunders in right field cost the Yankees their only loss to the Red Sox so far this season. He exacerbated the situation by refusing to answer questions about costing the Yankees the game. When he did speak to reporters two days later, he unleashed a litany of complaints and excuses that did not sit well with some of his teammates and members in the front office.
Maybin is hitting .314/.391/.500 with five home runs, 14 RBIs and six stolen bases in 49 games with the Yankees. He's a solid defensive outfielder who can play all three positions.
So is Tauchman, who took a five-game RBI streak into Thursday night's game. He went 7 for 13 in the three game series in Minnesota and has a six-game run scoring streak. In July, Tauchman is hitting .500/568/.875 with 12 runs scored, four doubles, a triple, two home runs and 11 RBIs.
Gardner's IL was backdated to Monday, meaning he will only need to miss five more days before he is eligible to return. Eventually, the Yankees hope to also get Giancarlo Stanton, who is out with a right knee sprain, back in the outfield as well.
