Yankees’ Luke Voit runs bases in latest step toward return from injured left knee

ST. PETERSBURG ― Luke Voit was on the field at Tropicana Field Tuesday afternoon sprinting from third base to home plate during batting practice. Aaron Boone is hoping the slugger will be doing that for real soon.

“I would say he’s very close. And we’ll have a decision here probably in the next day or two on if he’s potentially back at the end of this series, or I would think Miami for sure,” the Yankees manager said before Tuesday’s series-opener against the Rays.

Voit has been out since July 16 with inflammation in his surgically repaired left knee.

The 2020 home run king with 22 homers, Voit has played just 29 games this season so he hasn’t really had to push the knee. He was held out of the first 34 games of the season by knee surgery and then he suffered a strained oblique and missed 23 games. In the 29 games he has played, Voit has struggled to get going, hitting .241/.328/.370 with three homers and 11 RBI.

BULLPEN HELP

Clay Holmes, the Yankees’ newest reliever, was available Tuesday out of the bullpen.

“Really excited to get him. Feel like he’s gonna be a guy that is already very tough on righties but feel like he has the stuff in the repertoire to even go to another place. Feel like he’s having a really strong season, a lot better than his era would suggest,” Boone said. “For example, this is a guy with a really good arm. And, I think he gives us a really interesting look in our bullpen as a kind of a righty assassin, but also a guy that we feel like there’s still room in there for him to continue to grow as, as a really good reliever in this game.”

Holmes, 28, is 3-2 with a 4.93 ERA in 44 appearances with the Pirates this season. He has 32 scoreless appearances and has allowed 24 earned runs. Right-handed hitters are hitting .173/.277/.194 against him.

In parts of four big league seasons, Holmes has gone 5-7 with a 5.57 ERA in 91 appearances.

SEVERINO SOON

Luis Severino, recovering from a groin injury suffered in his rehab from March 2020 Tommy John surgery, threw 40 pitches in a bullpen on the field before Tuesday night’s game and the Yankees are considering at what point to not only bring him back to the majors, but also for him to return to the minor league rehab starts.

The Yankees could consider bringing him back before he is built up like a starter, meaning up to 85 or 100 pitches. They could use him in limited spots as they continue to build him up at the big league level.

“We’ll just see as to what level we want to build him up and do we want to keep building him as he gets here,” Boone said.  “Are we going to take him back at 50 or 60 pitches built up? That’s something we’ll kind of keep fluid and as we keep him on a five day (schedule), we’ll see where he’s at and when we want to to take them, but that’ll be a decision we make as we go.”

First the Yankees have to get him back on a minor league mound in a game situation.

“So we’re gonna make that call today as far as whether he starts and throws in a game in a couple days, or we do another live (batting practice) with him. We’re gonna make that decision today. But that’ll be the next step. So whether he’s at 40 pitches or so in a game, or we do that in a live scenario, we’ll make that final decision probably tonight.”

FRAZIER UPDATE

Clint Frazier was in Michigan having neurological testing, Boone said.

“It’s just a whole battery of neurological testing where he’s hitting and throwing and doing all these things,” Boone said. “I know it was extensive yesterday and today and hopefully we’ll have something for you tomorrow, but I don’t know much beyond that.”

Frazier has been on the injured list since leaving a game June 30 with dizziness. The team does not believe this is related to the 2018 concussion that cost him a year.