NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton was activated from the 10-day injured list Saturday after recovering from a right calf strain and was in the lineup for New York against the Detroit Tigers.
Stanton missed nine games after exiting in the seventh inning on May 24 against Baltimore. An MRI showed no structural damage and the slugger resumed batting practice on Tuesday.
“Excited to get him back,” manager Aaron Boone said Saturday. “Excited that it was something minor that he was essentially able to continue to get work in really over the entire 10 days. So just excited have him back.”
Before going on the injured list for the fourth straight season, Stanton was hitting .285 with 11 homers and 35 RBIs. He hit seven homers in his 20 games before the injury.
Stanton has split time between designated hitter and right field and Boone said he will likely return to the field at some point during next week’s three-game series at Minnesota.
Stanton returned to the outfield in the second half of last season and batted .302 with nine homers and 18 RBIs during his starts in right and left field. This year, he is hitting .343 with five homers and 17 RBIs in his 19 games in right.
To make room for Stanton, outfielder Miguel Andújar was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
