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Yankees' Boone: Stanton could return during next week's homestand

Michael Owens / Getty Images Sport / Getty

The New York Yankees lost Mike Tauchman to a calf strain Monday, but another one of their walking wounded could be on the verge of returning.

Former MVP Giancarlo Stanton - who's appeared in just nine games this season because of a knee injury - could be ready to rejoin the Yankees when they return home next week, manager Aaron Boone said, according to The Athletic's Lindsey Adler.

"He's ramping up pretty good and he's getting close to where it's full baserunning," Boone said, according to Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. "He's doing his full defense already. We're going to have him slide and hopefully he'll be back in the mix with us sometime in the next week."

The Yankees' next homestand begins Sept. 17 when they host the Los Angeles Angels.

A right knee sprain has kept Stanton on the sidelines since June 26. Though he's yet to appear in a minor-league rehab game, the 29-year-old took at-bats in simulated contests last week at the team's complex in Tampa, Florida, Hoch reported Friday.

It's possible that Stanton could get some game action in the minors before returning to New York, as the Yankees' Double-A affiliate, the Trenton Thunder, will play Game 1 of the Eastern League championship series Tuesday. But Boone doesn't believe Stanton will need to join the Thunder as a final step, according to Hoch.

This has been a trying season for Stanton, who has a long history of injury troubles. He also missed nearly three months earlier in the year because of a bicep ailment.

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