BALTIMORE -- Cody Bellinger appears to be on track to return toward the shorter end of a timeline initially provided in late July, when he was diagnosed with a Grade 2 strain of his left hamstring.
The Yankees outfielder wishes it could’ve been sooner.
Set to play in his first Minor League rehab game on Thursday for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Bellinger is expected to suit up for at least two games with the RailRiders and could potentially be activated this weekend against the Blue Jays, manager Aaron Boone said.
“I’ve been wanting to get back for a while,” Bellinger said this week. “You always want to be realistic, and for me, I want to come back and stay. You don’t want to make anything worse. I’m itching to get back, but I’ve got to continue to play it safe and make sure I’m 100 percent ready.”
Bellinger sustained the hamstring strain running the bases on July 25 at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park. He was placed on the injured list the next day, at which time the Yankees said they expected him to return in four to six weeks.
On Tuesday in Baltimore, Bellinger said he has been working out “about as 100 percent as I could in a non-game setting.”
Bellinger, who was named this year's All-Star Game MVP, is slashing .259/.350/.420 with 21 doubles, 11 home runs and 53 RBIs in 102 games this season.
He’s looking to boost an offense that has scuffled over the past couple of months, with Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton also on the injured list.
“I want to come back and play tremendous baseball. That’s my goal,” Bellinger said. “It’s always what I want to do, and so I hope I can do that.”