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Hours before Tuesday’s 12-3 win over the Padres, the Yankees witnessed an encouraging sight: Giancarlo Stanton was back in the batter’s box in The Bronx and taking competitive at-bats against a pitcher.
It represented progress and one more step during a slow buildup process that has an unknown number of steps.
For the first time this year, Stanton took live at-bats. Facing off against the rehabbing Jake Cousins, the slugger saw 10 pitches in which he hit what would have been a groundout to shortstop and drew a full-count walk.
Stanton took a few hacks and looked natural as he makes his way back from the elbow tendinitis in both arms. The same ailment bothered him last year, too, and he has required several injections.
The Yankees will leave for six games on the West Coast beginning Friday, during which time Stanton will continue his running progression and hit off the high-velocity Trajekt pitching machine, Aaron Boone said. The manager said he did not know when a rehab assignment will begin or what a rehab assignment will consist of. Stanton no longer plays the field and has bypassed rehab assignments in the past.
Cousins, who also faced J.C. Escarra, threw 15 pitches as he recovers from a right elbow flexor strain. Boone said Cousins “looked good.” Cousins has said he hopes to be ready by early- to mid-June.
“I don’t know what exactly his rehab assignment will look like,” Boone said. “Might be a little different than everyone else’s because we don’t need the field component.”
One day after Devin Williams imploded in an eventual loss, Boone again defended a righty still trying to find his way.
“I still maintain, like, this is not a pitcher we’re trying to reinvent or a guy that’s past his prime,” Boone said after Williams’ rough eighth inning Monday. “This is still an elite [pitcher], and all the stuff there is saying that. … I do feel like it’s very close. It’s just about controlling counts a little bit better, and once he does, he’ll ascend real quick.”
Asked if Williams crumbling Monday reset the clock for when he could return to the closer spot, a role that has since been occupied by Luke Weaver, Boone said he didn’t think so. It wasn’t as if Williams — who went strikeout, walk, single, strikeout, walk before handing off to Weaver with the bases loaded Monday — surrendered homers and other damaging hits.
“I feel like the last few, it’s been good,” Boone said. “And again, I don’t feel like it’s a situation where he’s all over the place. It’s just missing a little out of the zone with his fastball.”
Aaron Judge (1-for-3 with a walk and his 12th home run of the season) extended his on-base streak to 32 games.
Righty Scott Effross (left hamstring strain) threw a scoreless, one-hit, one-strikeout inning as he started a rehab assignment with the FCL Yankees.
New to the torpedo-bat club: Escarra, whose shipment arrived Tuesday.
Top prospect Spencer Jones, who has been playing with Somerset, was placed on the seven-day injured list.
DJ LeMahieu was bumped from Double-A Somerset to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, but his rehab assignment took a day off because SWB’s game was rained out. Before the weather interruption, Boone said the plan had been for LeMahieu to play Tuesday and Wednesday before deciding whether he would be ready for a call-up. After Wednesday, the club was anticipating “a conversation about whether we want him to do more or potentially be in play with us on the road,” Boone said.
LeMahieu has gone 7-for-16 with a home run and double during the rehab assignment.
Paul Goldschmidt received a rare day out of the starting lineup against righty Michael King as the Yankees played Ben Rice at first base and Jasson Domínguez as the designated hitter.
“As well as he’s obviously playing for us, I also want to be mindful just what a grind it is for him, especially being where he’s at in his career,” Boone said of the 37-year-old Goldschmidt, who pinch hit in the 10-run seventh, was intentionally walked and played the last few innings at first base.
Boone was riding home from the team’s “welcome home” dinner Saturday night when he got a call that caught him “off guard”: His older brother, Bret, had been hired as Rangers hitting coach.
“Kind of out of nowhere,” Boone said of the job for Bret, a three-time All-Star who had been out of the game and running a podcast. “I’m excited for him. I think he’s in just such a really good place in his life. And I think he has a ton to offer.”
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