Giancarlo Stanton rehab plan coming into focus with Yankees return in sight

Giancarlo Stanton is nearing either the second-to-last, or potentially last, stage of his rehab.

The Yankees slugger will head to Tampa this week to take live batting practice “for the next two weeks,” general manager Brian Cashman said Sunday on MLB Network Radio, with a rehab assignment potentially following.

“Very [encouraging],” manager Aaron Boone said Sunday morning at Coors Field. “I feel like G’s been doing well now for a while, so getting him built up will be the next key. Live at-bats on the horizon here and see where we go from there.”

Boone indicated that the Yankees have still not made a final decision on whether Stanton, who has been dealing with tennis elbow in both arms since he arrived at spring training, will need a rehab assignment.

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Giancarlo Stanton is working toward his season debut.

The veteran DH has avoided them at times in recent years, instead getting enough at-bats off the Trajekt pitching machine (which simulates pitches from real major leaguers) to come back without a rehab stint — helped by the fact that he does not need to play the field.

“He’ll certainly be part of that [decision],” Boone said. “We’ll figure out what’s best. Just want to make sure he’s game ready when he comes. Obviously that looks a little bit different for him in that he’s not playing the field. But you still want to get him built up properly and give him somewhat of a spring training simulation, even though his looks different than most guys.”

Stanton recently completed a baserunning program — he was also dealing with a calf issue at one point in the spring — and has been hitting off the Trajekt for weeks as he builds up his stamina.

Since the first days of spring training, the 35-year-old Stanton has said he will have to manage the pain once he returns — as he did while playing through it late last season, including a monster postseason.

But it needed to get to a point where the pain was manageable to begin with, which now appears to be the case.

Giancarlo Stanton is pictured during a May 6 game.

“I think he’s been feeling good,” Boone said. “There may be times in the year where it’s sore or whatever.”

If everyone stays healthy until Stanton comes back — with Jazz Chisholm Jr. expected to return from his oblique strain before then — the Yankees will have some decisions to make on both their roster and lineup in terms of playing time.

They are already having to sit one of Ben Rice, Paul Goldschmidt, Cody Bellinger, Jasson Domínguez or Trent Grisham on a given day, a situation that would become more tricky to navigate once Stanton returns and takes up the DH spot.

These things often have a way of working themselves out though because of injuries or other factors, which is why Boone insisted that the Yankees will cross that bridge once they have to, when Stanton shows he is ready to be activated off the 60-day IL.