NEW YORK -- Austin Wells began a Minor League rehab assignment with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday, an encouraging sign after the catcher was sidelined by cervical headaches, but the Yankees may not welcome Trent Grisham or Giancarlo Stanton back to their lineup until next month.
Stanton sustained a re-injury of his left calf strain while running bases last week and will be limited to a lighter workload for now, manager Aaron Boone said before Tuesday’s series opener against the White Sox at Yankee Stadium.
“He’s going to have a slow week; not a lot of baseball activities, not running,” Boone said of Stanton, who hasn’t played since April 24 at Houston. “We’ve got to get to a point where he can go.”
Additionally, the Yankees expect to be without Grisham “for a few weeks” due to a “moderate” strain of his right hamstring, manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday. Grisham sustained the injury running the bases in Friday’s loss to the Blue Jays.
“He’s continuing with baseball activities,” Boone said. “[He was] out doing some things in Toronto. Those things will continue as tolerated, but it’ll be a little bit of time.”
Outfielder Jasson Domínguez was activated from his Minor League rehab assignment when Grisham landed on the IL on Saturday, drawing starts in right field for their final two games in Toronto.
However, Domínguez had a tooth pulled earlier on Tuesday, which he said stemmed from an infection related to an earlier root canal. Domínguez was not in the starting lineup on Tuesday, but said he would be available off the bench.
“It was a little sensitive on the day off [Monday]; in the morning, it was hurting, so I had to get it checked out,” Domínguez said.
In other injury news, left-hander Max Fried threw a side session on Tuesday, the next step in his recovery from a left elbow bone bruise.
A recent MRI showed that Fried is healing, and he hasn’t felt any discomfort while throwing at 120 feet. Fried, who has not pitched since May 13, may return sometime in July.
“He gave me the thumbs-up,” Boone said. “It’s gone well. I feel like every step of the way has been good for him. He’s been asymptomatic and every time they’ve ramped something up, it’s seemingly gone really well. I know he’s very encouraged by it.”