Gary back in Yanks' lineup; Edwin not ready

ARLINGTON -- The Yankees welcomed back one of their big bats on Friday evening, inserting Gary Sanchez into the lineup for the final series to be played at Globe Life Park, and manager Aaron Boone said that Edwin Encarnación should be ready in the days to come.

Sánchez last played on Sept. 12 at Detroit, when he sustained a left groin strain. Boone said he expects Sánchez, 26, to catch about five innings on Friday, logging two to three at-bats, then would be behind the plate for the full game in Sunday's regular-season finale.

"It's just another heavyweight you've got to get through," Boone said. "I feel like one of the strengths of our club, when we're whole, is what it takes to get through our lineup. Even when you're having success getting through us, I feel like they all can feed off each other, wear down a pitcher because they're usually having tough at-bats. He's got to empty the tank to have success."

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Encarnación’s timetable had been thought to be ahead of Sánchez's, but Boone said that after speaking to Encarnación on Friday, the manager's read was that Encarnación is not experiencing discomfort but "mentally, he's probably not quite over that hump." Encarnación, 36, last played on Sept. 12 due to a left oblique strain.

"If he tweaks it again, it could cost him the postseason," Boone said. "We'll just kind of work through it. Ideally, we'd love to get some at-bats this weekend, but it's not the most important thing. The most important thing is that he's all the way healthy."

Boone said the Yankees could simulate at-bats for Encarnación in advance of the American League Division Series, if necessary. The Bombers are expected to work out at Yankee Stadium twice next week, plus an optional workout date.

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"I think he's feeling good, feeling strong, but I think there's still that little bit of trepidation of letting it go like he needs to," Boone said. "You wouldn't see it by watching him hit; his batting practices have been really impressive. Just kind of listening to him, talking through it with him, he certainly understands what's at stake here."

'A tremendous story'
Yankees managing general partner Hal Steinbrenner observed an instructional league game on Friday in Tampa, Fla., where he told The Associated Press that he is proud of how his team answered the challenges faced this season, particularly in a campaign during which they placed a Major League record 30 players on the injured list.

"There never was a season, injury-wise, like this," Steinbrenner said. "Nobody had ever seen it before. It just seemed to never end. We'd get a guy back and another guy would go down. All kinds of injuries. Pretty much anything you could think of.

"The team just stayed positive and somebody else came up to fill in a void, and guys took advantage of opportunities that they knew they might otherwise not have. You couldn't ask for more. It's a tremendous story, but we've got to see it through."

The Yankees are the first team in history to have 14 players hit 10 or more home runs, with second baseman Gleyber Torres (38) pacing the roster. In the first inning Friday night, Giancarlo Stanton crushed New York's 300th home run of the season.

Entering Friday, only the Twins (301) had more.

"It's a pretty fearsome lineup," Steinbrenner said. "We've got some good starters and, of course, we have a great bullpen. We've got as good a chance as anybody."

Bombers bits
• Masahiro Tanaka is listed as the Yanks' probable starter on Sunday, but Boone said there is a possibility that they could use an opener ahead of Tanaka. Either way, Tanaka will have a shorter outing; he has thrown 80, 88 and 86 pitches in his past three starts.

• Boone said the Yankees should be prepared to announce their ALDS Game 1 starter early next week. General manager Brian Cashman and assistant general manager Michael Fishman are in Arlington for the series, and they plan to have meetings this weekend concerning the playoff roster.

• For the third consecutive season, Aaron Judge's No. 99 is the most popular player jersey in the big leagues. The ranking is based on sales of Majestic jerseys at MLBShop.com since the beginning of the 2019 season. The Phillies' Bryce Harper and the Dodgers' Cody Bellinger rounded out the top three.

This date in Yankees history
Sept. 27, 1938: An ailing Lou Gehrig hit his 493rd and final home run, a fifth-inning solo shot off the Washington Senators' Dutch Leonard in a 5-2 Yankees victory at Yankee Stadium. The blast came 15 years to the day (Sept. 27, 1923) of Gehrig's first Major League homer, which came off Bill Piercy of the Red Sox at Fenway Park.