Josh Donaldson is back in the Yankees clubhouse and lineup. The infielder came off the injured list Friday in time to be back in the lineup for the series-opener against the Tigers at Yankee Stadium. He brings a potentially dangerous bat, and since he is appealing the one-game suspension, the spotlight is back on his incident with White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson.

MLB confirmed that a date for his appeal has not yet been set.

Donaldson returns to a clubhouse that was not entirely supportive after it came to light that he had said to Anderson, who is Black, “What up, Jackie?” While Donaldson has said it was an “inside joke,” referring to Anderson’s own comments in a 2019 interview, White Sox manager Tony La Russa called it “racist,” and Anderson and MLB called it “disrespectful.”

The Yankees defacto captain Aaron Judge said it wasn’t right and Boone said that it was not something Donaldson should have even been discussing. Donaldson said earlier this week that those comments from his teammates and manager were “hard to hear.”

Boone said that he has had discussions with Donaldson about that and he is not concerned it will affect the cohesiveness of the clubhouse.

“I think our clubhouse is a source of strength. I think it’s been one of our strengths. I think it’ll continue to be, and we’ve worked through things over these last couple of weeks. I’m not going to get into too many details about that,” Boone said before Friday’s game. “But I’m fired up to get Josh back, because not only is he a big part of our team, with what he brings on the field and how well he’s playing on both sides of the ball, but an important part of what we’re doing in that clubhouse.

“And we’ve certainly had conversations and have to work through things, but that’s also part of this season and part of being a team and part of being a family and he’s an enormous part of that,” Boone said. “And I am excited to get him back in the fold.”

STANTON SOON

In an indication that Giancarlo Stanton will be back on Saturday, the Yankees optioned Tim Locastro and Miguel Andujar back to Triple-A Scranton after Friday night’s game to make a spot on the major league 26-man roster. Stanton was on the field jogging and doing drills before Friday’s game. The slugger is eligible to come off the injured list after dealing with an ankle injury and Boone said it will be as soon as this weekend.

“I think it’s just he’s kind of checked all the boxes that he needs to; accelerating, decelerating, starting and stopping. Now it’s getting out on the field, getting on the dirt a little bit. He’s been hitting, regularly now several days high velocity, all that stuff,” Boone said. “So, I know he feels really good physically, but again, we’ll get through today. It’ll be a bigger workload day for him. So we’ll see where we’re at.”

Locastro was with Scranton on a rehab assignment, but Andujar had been making an impact with the major league club. In nine games since May 24, Andujar played a decent left field and slashed .258/.273/.323 with a .595 OPS.

INJURY UPDATES

Zack Britton, who had Tommy John surgery last October, threw off of a mound for the first time on Friday. The lefty reliever threw at the Yankees’ minor league complex where he has been rehabbing.

“I got the report from the trainer real quick that everything went well with that today,” Boone said.

It is the first big step towards what the team hopes is Britton’s return to the bullpen this season. They are hopeful he can return in September. The next step is building up his strength and volume off the mound and then facing hitters before he can pitch in minor league rehab games.

Domingo German, who began the season on the IL with right shoulder impingement syndrome, is throwing in simulated games and close to going out on a minor league rehab assignment.

“He’s due to throw, I believe, a few innings in a sim game or a camp game in a few days again,” Boone said. “And then I think he goes on the sixth day, this next time, potentially a few innings.”

HONOREES

Clay Holmes has steadily been rising into more prominent assignments in the Yankees bullpen since they acquired him last year. Now, he’s getting recognized throughout the game. Holmes was named the American League Reliever of the Month for May.

Aaron Judge was named the AL Player of the Month for May.

Holmes made 12 scoreless appearances in May, converting four save opportunities. He went 3-0 with 15 strikeouts while not issuing a walk in 14.0 innings of work. He has not allowed a run in his last 23 games, spanning 25.0 innings. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it is the longest single-season scoreless streak by a Yankees hurler since Phil Hughes’ 25.0-inning streak in 2009.

Judge slashed .311/.378/.699 with four doubles, 12 home runs, 25 RBI and two stolen bases in 27 games. That included three multi-home run games.

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