Yankees: Didi Gregorius progressing nicely toward his return

The Yankees are hopeful to have Gary Sanchez back behind the plate at some point this weekend and Didi Gregorius is not far behind with his own recovery. The star shortstop is progressing nicely on his way back from a bruised left heel and could return to the lineup at next week.

On Wednesday Didi tested out his injured heel by doing some light running and also fielded ground balls and took batting practice prior to the Yankees 4-1 loss to the White Sox. This is promising news because as we saw throughout this past series the offense is really struggling right now. There’s no way the White Sox pitching staff should’ve been able to quiet the Yankee lineup but without Didi, Judge and Sanchez there are too many easy outs 1-9 lately.

The Yankees need their big boppers back ASAP and with a huge west coast trip looming next week, the hope is that Didi can return by the end of the weekend or for the Oakland series starting Monday. With the minor league regular seasons nearing an end it remains to be seen if Didi will play any rehab games like Sanchez currently is. Since he hasn’t missed a long period of time (11 games so far) it might not be necessary.

According to Didi, even when he returns there will still be discomfort in the heel, but it’s something he should be able to play through. Per Dan Martin of the New York Post:

“I still feel it and it’s gonna be there. It’s a little bit better and it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

Most players are dealing with nagging injuries at this point in the season but you hope that the discomfort won’t affect Didi’s ability to make the same kind of impact he has all season. It might take some time for him to get back into a rhythm (especially if he doesn’t play any rehab games), but if this team is going to make another deep October run they need him to play well on both sides of the ball.

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As the three-hitter in the lineup and the captain of the infield, there arguably isn’t a more important player on this Yankees team than Sir Didi. What he brings to the table can not be duplicated by anyone else on the roster and we’re seeing that right now with him sidelined.

Gleyber Torres is a natural shortstop, but he’s made multiple errors since sliding over from second. Ronald Torreyes has taken Torres usual spot in the infield but he’s struggled offensively since Didi went down (4-20). Toe is a great backup to have but he’s much better serving that bench role because gets exposed when he’s playing every day.

Following the series loss to the White Sox, the Yankees are now 7.5 back behind Boston and their hopes of a comeback are slipping away. They’ll continue to push for the division title, but with the A’s only 4.5 back in the second wild-card spot the focus should shift to securing home field for that one game playoff.

Although the Yankees still have enough talent to win without Didi in the lineup, too many of their healthy regulars are scuffling right now and the offense could really use a big boost. Sanchez will help with that but a healthy Didi would help even more.