Aaron Hicks might be back from the lower-back injury that has sidelined him since spring training by this weekend, according to Yankees manager Aaron Boone.
“I would say there’s a chance he could be activated this weekend,’’ Boone said Wednesday of the series at Tampa Bay, which starts Friday. “We haven’t decided for sure yet.”
Hicks had his third rehab game for Single-A Tampa on Wednesday and played all nine innings in center field. He also went 0-for-3, making him hitless in 11 at-bats in three games with Tampa. He’s expected to rest Thursday before taking the next step.
Giancarlo Stanton (shoulder) continued to do tee-and-toss work in the cage and isn’t as close to returning.
With the Yankees still shorthanded in the outfield, Boone went with Clint Frazier again in right field after a messy night there on Tuesday, when he misplayed three balls.
Frazier did extra work with outfield coach Reggie Willits before Wednesday’s 10-1 loss to the Mariners and nearly made a nice diving catch on Omar Narvaez’s sinking liner in the eighth. It was initially ruled an out, but a review showed the ball popped out of Frazier’s glove and hit the ground for a single.
Brett Gardner, who was in center on Tuesday, took the blame for the lack of communication between him and Frazier on the fly ball that fell between them that night.
“I’m the center fielder,’’ Gardner said. “It’s my job to take charge in any gray area.”
Gardner added Frazier would learn from the rough night.
“He’s still a young kid like Gleyber [Torres] and [Miguel Andujar] … in the infield,’’ Gardner said. “As a young player, sometimes things get magnified and it seems like the end of the world. He has a lot of baseball ahead of him and will get better.”
Gary Sanchez got Wednesday off, which Boone said was more because the catcher had started five days in a row than because he went 0-for-10 in his previous two games.
“He’s coming back from the calf [strain] and we’re in a tough stretch of [games] in 30 of 31 days,’’ Boone said. “There’s gonna be a day here for Luke [Voit] or DJ [LeMahieu].
