Aaron Boone claims Giancarlo Stanton 'much closer' to return as Yankees timeline remains uncertain

There remains no known timetable for Giancarlo Stanton, but based on what Aaron Boone is seeing, the return of the designated hitter “shouldn’t be too far off.”

The Yankees manager wanted to correct the record on Stanton on Tuesday, telling the “Talkin’ Yanks” podcast that Stanton is closer to rejoining the club than reports had indicated.

Asked Wednesday, Boone said that the lack of a public and known timeline does not mean Stanton is a great distance away from playing again.

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“I feel like he’s moving in a good direction,” Boone said before the Yankees fell 5-3 in 10 innings during the opening game of a doubleheader against the Pirates in The Bronx. “I just don’t know if [his return is] a couple of weeks from now, a few weeks from now, whatever it is.

“But he is getting much closer to that point.”

Stanton has not played since suffering a right calf strain April 24. He appeared on the verge of a return in mid-June, when he had progressed to running the bases, but then felt something in his calf that Brian Cashman later clarified was “a whole new injury” rather than a setback.

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Since that point, Stanton has not run the bases, and the Yankees have not offered much detail about when the powerful but oft-injured slugger could return.

In what is probably the most optimistic update yet from Boone, the manager said Stanton “is running, and so I think based on that, it shouldn’t be too far off.”

Stanton has been in his running progression for several weeks. Boone said Stanton is at the stage of reaching “certain speed points” and then “obviously bouncing back and recovering.” There is still little clarity about the exact details of Stanton’s daily workload, but the club says he is making progress and has been hitting.

Stanton generally prefers skipping rehab assignments, feeling he can be ready by swinging off the Trajekt machine, but a return-to-play plan, too, is unknown.

“I don’t have a timeline,” Boone said. “I don’t know when he gets to the end of that and then what we do to get him back.”

Spencer Jones was the 27th man for the opener, the lefty batting third against righty Mitch Keller and going 0-for-3 with a walk.

“I feel like he’s gotten a lot better over the last 12, 14 months,” Boone said. “But even in spring training and the first part of this year and obviously having a couple of stints with us now where I feel like he’s held his own and just continues to get better and more polished as a hitter.”

To clear roster space for the activation of Max Fried in the nightcap, the Yankees optioned Kervin Castro back to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after a terrific performance in the opener.

The righty, pitching for the second time with the Yankees, entered a bases-loaded jam in the 10th and struck out Bryan Reynolds and Esmerlyn Valdez.

Will Warren, who had been pushed back due to the earlier-than-expected return of Fried, is set to open the series in Philadelphia on Friday, Boone said.

Because of the off-day Thursday, each starter after Warren will be pitching on five days’ rest their next turn.

Clarke Schmidt faced hitters for a second time since Tommy John surgery, throwing live batting practice between games.