Yankees eye Tuesday return for Giancarlo Stanton

The story of the 2019 Yankees has been injuries, injuries and more injuries. But as the season’s midway point approaches, the Bronx Bombers are slowly putting the pieces back together.

The New York Yankees have been decimated by injuries in 2019, but as the midway point in the season approaches, New York is inching back toward full strength.

Former MVP Giancarlo Stanton is the latest Yankee nearing a return to the big league club. Stanton appears ready, as he’s spent the past week absolutely raking at his rehab assignment with both Single-A Tampa and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Granted, it’s the minor leagues, so every moonshot the slugger hits needs to be taken with a grain of salt. But nontheless, it’s hard to ignore the run that Stanton is on.

Stanton homered in his first appearance with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Friday night after bashing three homers in two games with Single-A Tampa earlier in the week. On May 20, Stanton began his first rehab stint with Tampa, and homered in that game too. That rehab assignment was halted early after he left the game with left calf tightness, but if you add it all up, the 2017 National League MVP has homered five times in four rehab games.

The power surge is something the Yankees – losers of eight of their past 11 – are sorely lacking. After receiving heaps of praise for the past two months, the crew of backups and role players that buoyed New York to a 38-19 record on June 1 has finally entered the inevitable regression stage.

Gio Urshela, Cameron Maybin and Domingo German, among others, are falling back to earth, opening the door for Tampa Bay and Boston to make a run in the AL East.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said that Stanton could return to the starting lineup as soon as Tuesday, when the Yankees host the Rays.

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Also on the horizon for the Yankees is the return of fellow star outfielder Aaron Judge, who hasn’t played since April 20 after suffering a strained oblique. He began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Friday night too, and could return to the Yankees sometime during the club’s upcoming homestand.