Yankees want to give Josh Donaldson some 'runway' as they begin a six-game road trip

OAKLAND, Calif. – Josh Donaldson returned to the lineup Tuesday night after the Yankees sat him three straight games over the weekend.

Boone said before Tuesday night’s game at Oakland Coliseum against the A’s that the veteran third baseman would be playing “a lot” going forward.

But how long of a leash the Yankees, who have had pronounced offensive struggles with Aaron Judge on the injured list, give the 37-year-old before deciding when, or if, to cut bait is very much in question - both inside and outside the organization.   

“I do want to give him some runway here to get it going,” Boone said.

Boone certainly stayed on organizational message in that respect. Donaldson came into Tuesday hitting .125 with six homers and a .603 OPS in 21 games.  Speaking about him a little over a week ago, general manager Brian Cashman said: “I’d like to get him some runway here where he gets consistent at-bats, and then can get on a roll. [Then we'll] be in a better position to judge.”

It's turned out to be a truncated runway as Donaldson, who missed 52 games from April 6-June 1 with a hamstring injury, did not start any of last weekend’s games against the Rangers. He pinch hit in Friday’s 4-2 loss and struck out.

But Tuesday night, Donaldson hit a solo homer in the fifth inning in the Yankees' 2-1 loss to the A's. Of his seven home runs this year, six of them have been solo shots.

Boone and Donaldson had a lengthy meeting before Sunday’s game – one that caused the typically punctual manager to be late for his daily press conference – and neither offered much when it came to what was discussed.

“Just a lot of ball talk,” Donaldson said Sunday. “We talk often, actually. It’s kind of normal for us to have conversations…Obviously, I want to play. That’s not why we were talking . . . It wasn’t as serious as what you guys are trying to make it out to be.”

Boone on Tuesday reiterated – without getting into details – that the get-together was more along the lines of what Donaldson had said it was, and not any kind of “clear the air” session.

“It wasn’t anything like that,” Boone said. “We had talked at length a couple of days leading up to that and, honestly, that was one that just kind of spilled into my press conference time. And with, obviously, [him] having not played, I understand how it could have looked. But it was really just us kind of talking a lot of baseball, even talking baseball stories and things like that. We’ve talked through a lot of different things, but that’s always on-going as well. Looking forward to him going out and playing and, hopefully, giving us what I know he’s capable of.”

What does Boone hope to see from Donaldson in the coming days?

“Just kind of get it going traction-wise,” Boone said. “He had a couple of games there before the weekend where he didn’t do much. But, I felt like leading up to there was a lot of (him) getting off a lot of good swings, just not getting a lot of results. Again, I feel like there’s a lot of life in the bat still. There’s a lot of bat speed, there’s power, there’s the defense at third base. So the biggest [thing] I want him to do is just continue to work and be settled and go up there and throw up good [at-bats]. I feel like if he’s doing that, the results will follow.”

But make no mistake, Donaldson is on the clock.

Rodon on the horizon

Boone said Carlos Rodon, out since mid-March with a left forearm strain, will make his third and final rehab start Saturday with one of the club’s minor league affiliates [Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Double-A Somerset are both on the road while High-A Hudson Valley is home]. The plan would be for Rodon, who signed to a 6-year, $162-million free agent deal in the off-season, to join the rotation, likely for the July 7 game against the Cubs at the Stadium.

Extra bases

Righty Ian Hamilton, on the IL since May 17 with a right groin strain, is on the trip and will be activated before Wednesday night’s game, likely after Jhony Brito, Tuesday night’s starter, is optioned back to the minors….Nestor Cortes [left rotator cuff strain] is slated to throw the first bullpen of his rehab this weekend in St. Louis….Utility man Tyler Wade, a fourth-round pick of the Yankees in 2013 who played sporadically in the big leagues with the club from 2017-21 and played with the Angels last season, is now a member of the A’s. The 28-year-old Wade, a close friend of Aaron Judge, started at short Tuesday night and batted eighth.