Latest on hurt Yankees: Greg Bird, Tommy Kahnle, Gary Sanchez

by Felix Pantaleón

Yankees manager Aaron Boone provides updates on injures players Greg Bird, Tommy Kahnle and Gary Sanchez. Who will be back and when as the Yankees return home to open a three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels on Friday, May 25, 2018 (5/25/18).

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The Yankees are getting closer to full strength than they have been all season.

Manager Aaron Boone provided a handful of injury updates while on with Mike Francesa on WFAN radio on Thursday.

The biggest news: First baseman Greg Bird should be back in the lineup Saturday. Bird has missed all season recovering from surgery to remove a right ankle bone spur. Going into Thursday, he was hitting .273 (3-for-11) with two home runs in three games at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He also played eight games at Double-A Trenton and three games at High-A Tampa.

Boone added that catcher Gary Sanchez, who had a calf cramp Wednesday, should be ready to start Friday.

Reliever Tommy Kahnle, on the disabled list with shoulder tendinitis, should also return Friday.

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It’s unclear who will have to be taken off the 40-man roster for Bird and Kahnle’s return.

It seems likely the Yankees will send down hot-hitting rookie Tyler Austin to make room for Bird, who will step into the everyday job at first base. Neil Walker could back up Bird.

A reliever will, obviously, be dropped to add Kahnle, who was terrible early in the season while dealing with the injury and a drop his fastball velocity.

Brendan Kuty may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @BrendanKutyNJ. Find NJ.com Yankees on Facebook.

PROSPECT SPOTLIGHT

Tyler Nunez, a C from Lake Nona HS, is a 6'2 190lb athletic catcher who provides strength with the bat and glove. During BP, Tyler stuck with a middle of the field approach while staying on a line. He impacted the ball well with his compact and direct path, T90EV. He showed off his real athleticism behind the plate by posting a 2.04 pop time while staying around the bag on every throw. He is a good looking athletic uncommitted catcher to keep an eye on.