Giancarlo Stanton, who has been out since spraining his right knee June 25, hasn’t begun baseball activities and won’t be back from the injured list anytime soon.
“Probably looking like September,’’ general manager Brian Cashman said in a text before the Yankees’ 4-2 win over the Red Sox in The Bronx on Friday night.
The return of Brett Gardner, who went 0-for-3, from the IL on Friday helped give the Yankees more outfield depth. He’d been out with a sore left knee since leaving a game on July 20.
Gardner said he doesn’t expect the knee to be an issue and Aaron Boone has no plans currently to cut back his playing time to protect it.
“Not necessarily,’’ Boone said. “He did it on a play. There’s gonna be days off here and there.”
Boone noted the fact that Cameron Maybin was also back to go along with Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks and the continually productive Mike Tauchman.
“I view him as physically good to go,’’ Boone said of Gardner, who took Tyler Wade’s spot on the roster, with the infielder optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
The same can’t be said of Stanton, who also missed 68 games with a torn left biceps and had a cortisone shot in his left shoulder before the knee injury, which he suffered on an awkward slide.
Stanton has played in just nine games in his second season with the Yankees.
“He’s got his range of motion back, though,’’ Boone said. “The strength is getting there. He’s getting on the treadmill. I would say hopefully he’s getting closer to [baseball activities]. He’s definitely improving.”




