Joey Gallo nears return, but Yankees keeping cautious with slugger

TORONTO — Joey Gallo is nearing a return to the Yankees’ lineup, but Aaron Boone decided to keep the outfielder out one more day at least with the groin tightness that forced him from Saturday night’s game in Kansas City.

“[Monday] night he was an emergency option,” Boone said Tuesday before his team tried to win its 11th straight. “I’m hoping and expecting that he’ll be an option for me tonight.”

Boone said Gallo, as he did the night before, was scheduled to go through a mostly full pregame workout.

“I know he’s feeling pretty good,” Boone said. “In talking to him [Monday] night, he wanted to be in there today. I just thought give him one more [day]. “

Why?

“I knew yesterday was better than the day before and we were encouraged by what we saw,” Boone said. “But with these soft tissues, kind of want to err on the side of caution, especially this time of year and making sure he’s sound and ready to go.

“We’ll see how he does in pregame and we expect it to go pretty well.”

Gallo came into Tuesday hitting .180 with two homers and a .570 OPS but having reached base safely in each of his last six games with a plate appearance and in seven of his last eight.

Waiting to catch fire

The Yankees haven’t gotten much offensively out of the catching position this season, something just about every rival talent evaluator predicted would be the case in the spring. Kyle Higashioka came into Tuesday night hitting .136 with zero homers and a .386 OPS while Jose Trevino, who got the start Tuesday, entered hitting .185 with zero homers and a .463 OPS. Boone, in saying he expects both to eventually hit better, said regardless the pair have brought plenty defensively and in their handling of pitchers to offset the lack of offense.

“No question,” Boone said. “I think they’ve both been tremendous back there, but we also expect them to hit, too. I think in Jose’s case, he’s actually hit a lot of balls well and I feel like he hasn’t gotten rewarded a lot for it. And then Higgy, he’ll get going, he’ll get his power stroke going here. We need those guys to contribute like we think they’re capable of [offensively], but there’s no question the impact they’ve had behind the plate has been tremendous.”

The Yankees’ staff came into Tuesday with a 2.69 ERA, the best mark in the AL and second-best in the majors, a credit to the catchers.

“It’s a partnership there,” Boone said. “The catcher plays an important role in the success of a pitching staff and I feel our two catchers to this point have played a big role.”