How Yankees’ Gary Sanchez, Austin Romine are recovering from injuries

With Yankees starting catcher Gary Sanchez already on the DL with a groin strain, backup Austin Romine left Saturday night’s game with a tight hamstring.

NEW YORK — A week after going on the disabled list with a right groin strain, Gary Sanchez looked perfectly healthy walking from his locker to the other side of the Yankees clubhouse on his way to the shower room late Sunday afternoon.

The catcher was moving at a good pace and there was no hint of a limp.

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“I’m definitely feeling better than I thought I was going to by today, so that’s good,” said Sanchez, who is a week into a three-to-four week recovery from an injury that put him on the disabled list on June 25.

Best case, Sanchez will be ready to return in about two weeks … or just before the All-Star break, which runs from July 16-19.

“I would say if he’s ready to come back a day or two before the All-Star break, I would think we would lean toward (delaying his return until after) the break,” manager Aaron Boone said. “But it’s going good.”

Sanchez’ backup was doing better, too.

Fill-in starter Austin Romine gave the Yankees a scare Saturday night left hamstring tightness led to him being pulled after six innings of an 11-0 loss to the Boston Red Sox and then getting a late-night MRI.

The MRI results were negative, and by Sunday, Romine told manager Aaron Boone that he was good to go for Sunday night’s series finale against the Red Sox.

That was a big relief for the Yankees, who opted against using an open roster spot to call up a catcher, but Boone played it safe by having rookie Kyle Higashioka catch ace Luis Severino instead of Romine. 

“I feel like we dodged a bullet there, (but) I’ll try to stay away from (Romine on Sunday),” Boone said. “Hopefully he’ll back in there against Atlanta.”

Romine looking good to go for this week’s Braves series – which runs from Monday to Wednesday at Yankee Stadium – is good news.

If his injury was more serious, the Yankees likely would have called up Wilkin Castillo from Triple-A on Sunday.

Instead they added a reliever by summoning in righty David Hale for a third stint this season a day after reliever Giovanny Gallegos was optioned.

A 34-year-old switch-hitter, Castillo has 22 games of major league experience from a decade ago when he was with the Cincinnati Reds, but this season was in an independent league before signing with the Yankees on May 25 and being sent to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Romine took batting practice Sunday and was available to play in an emergency.

As for Sanchez, he threw on the field on Saturday and he’s been riding a stationary bike, but he hasn’t yet been cleared to run.

“That’s going to be the next step,” Sanchez said. “So far what I’ve been doing, no discomfort.”

When Sanchez went on the DL, Boone thought the time off could be a good mental break for the 2017 All-Star. Sanchez has been productive with 14 homers and 41 RBI in 63 games, but he’s hitting just .190.

Sanchez dismissed his time off helping him in any way.

“My mind is fine,” he said. “Using this injury to refresh my mind or get my mind off baseball is not what I want. I always felt my mind was strong. At the end of the day, you want to play.

“I want to be playing and being injured doesn’t allow you to play.”

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