Gary Sanchez on DL: Yankees set timetable for return

Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez hurt his groin in the 10th inning of the 4-3, 12-inning loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Fla. on Sunday, June 24, 2018 (6/24/18).

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NEW YORK — The MRI taken on Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez’s right groin Monday morning in Tampa brought relieving results.

His strain is just a Grade 1, which is better than a Grade 2 and a whole lot better than a Grade 3.

“Pretty good news,” manager Aaron Boone said Monday before his club’s interleague series against the Phillies.

As a result, the Yankees are hoping that Sanchez, who was injured on Sunday, will be sidelined just three-to-four weeks as opposed to missing several months.

“Anytime that you’re dealing with a groin, hammy or quad, you always get a little nervous, but I feel like it was on the better end of things,” Boone said. “So we’re looking probably looking at three or four weeks.”

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Asked to clarify if the three-to-four week timeline means being sidelined that long or starting a rehab assignment then, Boone said, “Return to the Yankees … hopefully.”

If Sanchez misses just three weeks, he’ll return for a July 9 doubleheader in Baltimore.

Four weeks off would take the Yankees to the All-Star break and push Sanchez’s return back to Friday, July 20, the start of a Subway Series against the Mets at Yankee Stadium.

Just a guess: Expect the Yankees to play it safe and keep Sanchez out of action until after the All-Star break.

Sanchez was injured running out a groundball in the 10th inning of the Yankees’ 7-6, 12-inning loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday. He immediately was pulled from the game and was put on the 10-day disabled list on Monday.

Austin Romine, a .305 hitter in 28 games backing up Sanchez through Sunday, will take over the starting catching duties with Kyle Higashioka coming up from Triple-A to serve as the temporary No. 2.

“Ro will be the primary catcher,” Boone said. “With Ro, we’ve got to watch him though. He hasn’t obviously played every single day a lot, so we’ll be careful in that regard and Kyle will get his opportunities in there and we’ll just play it day by day making sure our guys are as fresh as possible.”

Boone is hoping the time off is a good physical and mental break for Sanchez, a 2017 All-Star who is hitting just .190 with 14 homers and 41 RBI in 63 games.

“I know he has been grinding and working really hard,” Boone said. “He’s been carrying it mentally and emotionally a little bit.

“Hopefully this break in the action for him allows him to refresh a little bit mentally and I’m confident we’ll have a dynamic player the last couple months of the season.”

Randy Miller may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @RandyJMiller. Find NJ.com on Facebook.