Aaron Boone says not participating in Home Run Derby was Giancarlo Stanton's call

Giancarlo Stanton strongly hinted last week in Boston that he would participate in the Home Run Derby in his hometown of Los Angeles, but when the brackets were released Thursday, he was not among the eight players on it.

Aaron Boone said Stanton — who hit his 24th homer Friday night, a three-run shot to right-center off Nathan Eovaldi in the third inning — wasn’t pressured one way or the other.

“This was G’s call,” Boone said. “We would have been fully behind him if he wanted to do it. I just think with the grind of this first half and a little fatigue, I just think he weighed all that into consideration and decided not to.”

Among the worst-kept secrets in baseball is that the team hierarchy from all 30 clubs would prefer that their players not compete in the Home Run Derby.

There is the fear of injury when players go all-out once the competitive juices get flowing, along with the potential of a swing getting messed up for the second half.

Teams are prohibited from telling players not to participate, but it’s not a stretch to say the Yankees breathed a sigh of relief at the news that Stanton will not participate at Dodger Stadium.

Stanton, who won the 2016 Derby, hasn’t been in one since the 2017 event in Miami (won by Aaron Judge, who slumped horribly to start that season’s second half and might have aggravated a shoulder issue during the event).

n  German back next week

Boone said the plan is for Domingo German, who made his final rehab start Friday night with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, to slide into the Yankees’ rotation after the All-Star break, likely taking the spot of Luis Severino, who was placed on the injured list Thursday with a low-grade right lat strain.  German allowed no runs and three hits in six innings, throwing 65 pitches, 50 for strikes. He started the season on the 60-day IL with right shoulder impingement syndrome.