The Yankees’ lineup exploded for a season-high 18 hits Monday night in Seattle, and the next day at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, N.J., two of their rehabbing sluggers inched closer to a return.
There was a palpable buzz Tuesday surrounding the Double-A Somerset Patriots.
For the spectators packed around the clubhouse entrance to the field pregame, craning their necks around the railing, it was their chance to watch Giancarlo Stanton (left hamstring) and Josh Donaldson (right hamstring strain).
And for the pair of former MVPs, Somerset’s 3-1 loss to the the Portland Sea Dogs marked the start of a stretch they hope will end with, at best, a West Coast flight this week — meeting the Yankees during their series against the Dodgers — or, at the very least, an imminent MLB return.
What unfolded throughout Tuesday night’s game will directly correlate to when they’re reinstated from the injured list. Donaldson, who planned to play third base for nine innings, was optimistic that “I’m gonna be flying out to LA the next day or so” if Tuesday went well.
Stanton, who was the designated hitter for the entire game, was more reserved, saying that he’s gonna “get through today and go from there.”
“Not the ideal six weeks,” Stanton said from inside the Patriots’ dugout following batting practice before going 0-for-3 with a walk in Somerset’s loss. “But I’m here now. Very close to being back to where I want to be.”
The last time Donaldson, who went 1-for-4 on Tuesday night, was on a rehab assignment with Somerset, he felt his hamstring tighten before an April 18 game.
He tried to play through it — a mix of not wanting to exit and hoping the tightness would get better on its own — but that decision backfired, despite his 1-for-3 night.
Donaldson’s rehab assignment halted.
The recovery took longer, and he tried to be more cautious before starting baseball activities following the five-week setback.
“It’s taking a little bit longer,” Donaldson said, “but right now, I feel good.”
He went 3-for-9 across three games with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Thursday, Friday and Sunday once his rehab assignment restarted, with his double off a cutter and homer off a changeup two signs that timing has “been going really well,” Donaldson said.
Stanton’s return from his latest injury that caused “disbelief and disappointment” hasn’t included the same stop-and-start approach, and he called the progression “steady” and incremental.
Tuesday’s game was his first time facing live pitching since the injury, with hitting off the machine the closest he had come.
Stanton sustained the hamstring injury while decelerating into second base after hitting a double April 15. The key for the rehab assignment, he said, was to “get some games under my belt or some at-bats, at least,” part of getting his timing back.
The insertion of Stanton back into the lineup has a more concrete path, with the 33-year-old serving as designated hitter with the goal of eventually logging time in the outfield — a position that would be good for Stanton because of the movement, he said.
“Just stay in the flow of the game,” Stanton said about playing outfield, “but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. I gotta stay out there wherever I’m at.”
For Donaldson, though, it’s a bit more complicated.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone called him an everyday player last week.
Donaldson was hitting .125 at the time of his injury, with just two hits and one homer in 16 at-bats, and since then, DJ LeMahieu has served as the regular third baseman — with Gleyber Torres getting the bulk of the starts at second base and Anthony Rizzo maintaining his role at first base.
Donaldson doesn’t anticipate any additional pressure or importance with each at-bat than normal, though.
“I think every day that you wear a uniform, you have a unique opportunity to go out there and compete and earn your position,” Donaldson said. “I’ve never been someone that’s really been given anything, so for me, it’s not abnormal to go out there and earn it as well.”