Juan Soto and the Yankees appear to be in the clear after a hand injury kept the slugger from action over the weekend.
“I think we’re good,” manager Aaron Boone said ahead of Tuesday night’s series opener in The Bronx. “Kinda getting through the last couple days, obviously it was a swelling and pain tolerance thing. Feel like we’re in a good spot moving forward.”
Soto, who is in the lineup to face the Cincinnati Reds, sustained a bruised hand when he slid into home plate in the fourth inning of Friday night’s 16-5 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. X-rays did not reveal any fractures, but the outfielder was scratched from Saturday's lineup as a precaution to get additional treatment before he was a late addition to the lineup card on Sunday.
There were also positive updates from the skipper on several other injured Yankees.
Giancarlo Stanton is 10 days into his stint on the IL with a hamstring injury that the designated hitter ballparked as a four-week timeline. And so far, that timeline could be realistic for his return to play.
“I think it’s possible, again we’ll see how he does,” Boone said about the timetable. “I actually just spoke to him and I think he’s encouraged and it’s gone kinda how he expected so far in a good way.
Stanton hit, threw and did some light running Monday, the manager said.
“We’ll see,” he continued. “We’ll just see how the next week, 10 days go, but it seems like he’s moving in the right direction.”
The Yankees pitching staff has been in a bit of a rut of late and they are looking to get some fresh arms back available to them soon.
Clarke Schmidt, on the IL since May 27 with a right rotator cuff strain, has been throwing for about a week, the manager said.
“That’s I think definitely, so far, going according to plan, or how we had hoped,” Boone said, adding that the right-hander is “still a ways off from having to check boxes to getting on the mound and get built up again. But feel like that’s moving in a good direction.”
There are two pitchers closer to making their return to the big leagues from injury: right-handers Scott Effross and JT Brubaker.
It is “possible” the duo can make their 2024 season debuts after undergoing Tommy John surgery, Boone said. Mid-July is when they are eligible to return from the IL, but they might require some more time.
“For both those guys, obviously, coming off Tommy John, you obviously wanna make sure they pitch and get built up and kinda have that full build-up of just getting their spikes out between the lines in competition for a decent amount of reps to get them there,” Boone said. “But they’re definitely getting closer.”
Brubaker will be built up as a starter - which he has been throughout his major league career – but Boone said it is possible the 30-year-old could work out of the Yanks’ bullpen. “I think everything’s in play,” the skipper said.
In six innings with Single-A Tampa and Double-A Somerset, Brubaker has allowed three hits and no runs while tallying one walk and five strikeouts.
Effross will work again on Wednesday with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre as he hopes to make his first MLB appearance since October 2022.
Boone said the Yankees hope to get the same pitcher they saw back then this season.
“I’ve watched most of his first few outings here and he looks pretty good, he got roughed up a little bit in his last one after kinda being lights out in the first few,” he said. “But yeah, It doesn’t look far off from what he was.”
In two outings with Scranton, the 30-year-old has allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits over 2.1 innings with three strikeouts.
