Yankees outfielder Harrison Bader is moving towards returning to action after starting the year on the injured list.
Before Thursday’s series opener against the Minnesota Twins, Bader said that he felt “really close” to getting back. Bader took part in a full day of baseball activities, running the bases and grabbing fly balls.
It was another step in the right direction for the injured outfielder. Bader has been ramping back up from an oblique strain that forced him to end his spring training early and was expected to sideline him for roughly six weeks.
Bader said on Thursday that he would go through a few more days of work before beginning a rehab assignment early next week.
“The team has an off day on Monday, so reassess then to see how quickly we can go this upcoming week on a rehab assignment,” Bader said. “Assuming all the boxes get checked in terms of how I’m responding after the fact, it’s right around the corner. Which is very exciting.”
The 28-year-old has been progressing well and said that he hadn’t had any issues with the injury since it occurred in March. Yankees manager Aaron Boone echoed Bader’s comments about when the rehab stint could start and commented on how great he has looked in his on-field work.
Bader’s injury is just one of many that occurred over the spring and threw a bit of a wrench in the Yanks’ plans for this season. The injury forced Boone to be a bit more creative with his outfield while they’ve waited for Bader to return.
Aaron Judge has played center field in nine of the Yankees first 12 games of the year while Bader recovered and that could carry on for a little bit longer. Boone made it sound like Bader will need some time to rehab in the minors before he gets back on the field for the Bombers.
The expectation from back when the injury first occurred had been that Bader would return in early May.
“He’s got to play some games and obviously get up to play back-to-back and volume of innings and things like that. So I don’t know exactly what it is, but it’s not just going to be a couple day thing,” Boone said.
Bader’s time with the Yankees has been limited due to injury since he was acquired around last year’s trade deadline. He didn’t appear in his first game with the Yankees until Sept. 20 due to plantar fasciitis.
The Bronxville native batted .217 in 14 regular season games last year and was crucial in the playoffs batting .333 with six home runs and five RBIs.
With Bader getting closer to a potential return, he said he wasn’t under any limitations with his workouts.
“I’m fully good to go. It’s really just a matter of how I respond after the activity for the day and adding a little bit more intensity there,” Bader said. “But in terms of preparing for a game as if I were playing, we’re checking all those boxes. So again, it’s very exciting for me, I really want to be back in pinstripes.”
