Giancarlo Stantons return timeline still remains murkey for Yankees

ST.PETERSBURG, Fla.

— Two-plus months after the Yankees waited a few days to see if he could avoid an injured list stint altogether, Giancarlo Stanton remains without any real timeline to return to the active roster.After suffering a setback with his right calf strain last month, when he appeared to be a few days away from being activated from the IL, Stanton is still not running again, according to manager Aaron Boone, as his rehab remains slow-moving.Asked if he expects the veteran slugger to play again this season, Boone said he did.Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.

“Now, that being said, I’m surprised it’s been this long,” Boone said Monday at Tropicana Field before the Yankees beat the Rays 5-1.“But yes, I expect him back.”Stanton missed his 64th straight game Monday and did not join the Yankees on this trip, despite injured players often doing so in order to rehab at the club’s player development complex in Tampa.Boone did not have much in the way of specifics as to what Stanton is doing other than not yet running; he had advanced to running the bases before getting re-injured last month.

The manager had said last Monday that Stanton was “moving again with more intensity and hitting against velo[city] again,” though as of this Monday, Boone only said the 36-year-old was “upping the treadmill stuff he’s doing.”“I don’t know that it’s [a] slower [buildup after the setback], we’ve just been listening to the body and following when he has gotten the images and things like that,” Boone said.“What he’s been able to tolerate, we’ve been able to do.”Jasson Domínguez and Boone both got upset in the seventh inning after home plate umpire Emil Jimenez did not allow Domínguez to challenge a low called strike despite him tapping his helmet fairly quickly after the pitch — a repeat of what happened last month with th...