Jacoby Ellsbury has his hip problem checked out

Jacoby Ellsbury is back in New York . . . just not for the reason the Yankees hoped.

Ellsbury, who previously was expected to return sometime this week from his oblique injury, instead was visiting a specialist because of an unrelated hip problem.

Aaron Boone said Ellsbury’s left hip is bothering him and that the issue cropped up about four or five days ago. He feels it when he’s hitting and running and has been shut down.

“Hopefully it’s only minor and just these few days here where he’s shut down a little bit,” Boone said of Ellsbury, who missed a large chunk of spring training. “Hopefully, it’s not too long until where he can start to resume and start getting some at-bats again.”

Ellsbury, 34, originally was set to compete for a starting outfield spot but now is responsible for part of the Yankees’ outfield shortage. He’s in the fifth year of a seven-year, $153-million contract.

“It doesn’t sound like it’s anything serious,” Boone said. “We haven’t really found much with it yet. Hopefully, we can find out and get it treated properly.”

Hicks’ slow road back

Though Aaron Hicks (intercostal muscle strain) expects to get into minor-league games Sunday and Monday, Boone would not commit to having the outfielder back on Tuesday.

“We certainly need him,” he said. “But we also want to be smart . . . He was a little upset, even at me, for going on the disabled list. He didn’t feel like he needed to, but with a Grade 1 situation, we felt like we had to get ahead of this, especially this time of year. All signs are pointing to him being back, whether it’s early in the week or middle of the week. We think it’s around the corner, but we’ve got to get through some significant steps before we get there.”

By Laura Albanese

laura.albanese@newsday.com@AlbaneseLaura

Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.