Giancarlo Stanton (calf) would be in Yankees' lineup if games were being played, Aaron Boone says

Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton has made steady progress with his strained right calf injury this month, New York manager Aaron Boone said Monday.

In an interview on the YES Network, Boone spoke about Stanton's road back from a Grade 1 strain, diagnosed last month, saying, "If we were ready to start spring training games, he'd be ready to go."

Stanton played in just 18 games last season due to a number of injuries, and he batted .288 with three home runs in 59 at-bats. He hit 38 homers in his first season with the Yankees in 2018, one year after going deep a career-high 59 times with the Marlins in 2017.

"G's doing great," Boone said. "He's been hitting now for a few weeks, but he's now running, pretty much, at full speed and different directions and doing all the things necessary to get into a game."

Boone talked about keeping in touch with his players, injured and otherwise, and how important that is while Major League Baseball has suspended spring training activities due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"That's the one silver lining," Boone said with regard to baseball's pause. "This is giving guys a chance to get healed up."