Luke Voit hitting and running, appears to be on track to return in May

BALTIMORE — Luke Voit continues to seem on track for a return at some point in May, which was the general time frame given when the first baseman underwent surgery in late March to repair a partially torn meniscus in his left knee.

Voit recently reported to the club’s alternate site in Moosic, Pennsylvania, to continue rehabbing. "He is hitting, he’s actually running outside for the first time [in his rehab]," Aaron Boone said Monday. "He was up to like 95% on the AlterG [treadmill] sprinting, so he’s ready to kind of take that next step and be outside. I’m not sure exactly when he’ll have live at-bats, but he is essentially going and really starting to ramp up now."

The Yankees clearly have missed Voit’s presence on the field and in the clubhouse. Gerrit Cole praised the newest Yankee, Rougned Odor, on Saturday night for the "energy level" the second baseman has brought in his two-plus weeks with the team. Voit, MLB’s home run leader last season with 22, has been described similarly in his time with the Yankees.

"Luke brings a ton to the table," Boone said last week. "He’s been one of the elite hitters in the game last few years and certainly is one of the voices in our clubhouse. So we certainly love having his energy on top of what he brings to the batter’s box."

Andujar activated

The Yankees announced late Sunday that Miguel Andujar, out since March 15 with what Boone that day called a "sore [right] hand and wrist," has been reinstated from the injured list and optioned to the club’s alternate training site, where he reported Monday.

Andujar, the American League Rookie of the Year runner-up in 2018 to the Angels' Shohei Ohtani but mostly forgotten since then because of various injuries, is a ways from being declared major league-ready. Once he is, it’s not clear what role, if any, he might have with the Yankees, as there’s no apparent position available.

Before his injury, Andujar had been playing third base — his natural position and where he played the vast majority of 2018 — first base and leftfield. Because it's unclear when Voit will be able to play in minor league games and Mike Ford currently is in the majors, Boone said that for now, Andujar will play mostly first base.

"It’s probably a good week to get him some first base reps where he can get some regular reps there," Boone said, "and then as the rosters change or whatever, where Voit starts taking at-bats as well as [prospect Chris] Gittens, then we’ll start getting him more regular reps at third base, even leftfield a little bit."

By Erik Boland

erik.boland@newsday.comeboland11

Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.