Yankees Receive Timeline for Star Slugger's Return

The New York Yankees shouldn't have to wait much longer for Giancarlo Stanton to return to their lineup.

In a video he posted on TikTok, SNY's Andy Martino reported that Stanton (elbows) could feasibly work his way back to the majors later this month after completing a rehab assignment, which he should begin in the near future.

"All of a sudden, it's reasonable to speculate that Giancarlo Stanton will return to the Yankees during the month of June," Martino said. "[Manager] Aaron Boone, on Wednesday, was not ready to announce what Stanton's next steps would be. He's in Tampa, baseball activities, live batting practice. He's been doing that for a bit. Word around the team though is that Stanton will likely stay in Tampa over the weekend, then if that goes well, would go potentially to a rehab assignment in the minor leagues as soon as early next week."

Stanton has not played yet this year while dealing with tendinitis in both elbows, which has led to him receiving several rounds of platelet-rich plasma injections.

As Martino noted, the 35-year-old has been working out and taking live at-bats at the Yankees' spring training complex in Tampa recently as he ramps up his recovery.

New York has scored the most runs of any American League club in his absence with 322 while also holding a 5 1/2-game lead atop its division with a 37-23 record, but Stanton is still a necessary component of its offense.

The active leader in home runs with 429, Stanton slashed .233/.298/.475 in 459 regular season plate appearances last season before posting an OPS of 1.048 with seven homers in the playoffs.

Boone also provided an update on Stanton ahead of the Yankees' game against the Cleveland Guardians on June 4, revealing that he partook in baseball activities earlier in the day while hinting that more information on his status would be coming soon.

"Today was just a workout day," Boone said, per video from SNY. "I think he was doing baseball activities [but not live at-bats] today. He's probably headed up here but I don't know the next step if it's a rehab assignment or what. Hopefully we'll have that in the next 24 hours."