At a time when the Yankees’ corps of relief pitchers hasn’t always inspired confidence, something promising has appeared on the horizon. A healthy Jonathan Loaisiga had his minor league rehab assignment moved from Single-A Tampa to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday, which means he is entering the final ramp-up to rejoining the big league team.

The righthander had been a key part of the bullpen before his 2024 season was undone after only four innings pitched by an injury to his right ulnar collateral ligament. He had season-ending surgery (not Tommy John surgery) to make the repair and was showing enough promise at the end of the year for the Yankees to ink him to a one-year contract.

In a moment when presumed closer Devin Williams has struggled and the club is possibly looking at using reliever Ryan Yarbrough as a spot starter again in the coming week, the return of Loaisiga could provide an important reinforcement.

Manager Aaron Boone was asked about the reports he’s gotten during his comeback and was effusive in his enthusiasm.

“Really good – he looks great,” Boone said. “I'm really excited about where ‘Lo’ is. When he was throwing bullpen (sessions) when we got to Tampa, I thought it looked great . . . He's been really good. He looks good. I'm definitely excited to get him back.”

“ ‘Lo’ at his best has been a killer,” he added. “I think back to the 2022 playoff where him and Wandy over there were so integral in that first series. He’s a righty killer with that really good sinker, but he's also really good against lefties because he got the good changeup.”

During the 2022 postseason, Loaisiga pitched 9 1/3 innings over six games to a 0.96 ERA.

Boone said: “A healthy, locked-in (Loaisiga) is an impactful guy back there.”

There is no plan for him to rejoin the team on the upcoming West Coast trip. He might not even be back for the Subway Series after that. Boone laid out tentative plans for him to make six appearances, the last on consecutive days before he is ready.

“He’ll probably be at (Triple-A) though next weekend,” Boone said.

Giancarlo Stanton continues to make progress as he recovers from tendinitis in both elbows. He’d taken batting practice on the field, but Tuesday faced live pitching from rehabbing Jake Cousins. He was placed on the 60-day injured list in the last week of March so his return is still a ways off, but this was the next step toward a return.

“For the first live (one), it felt good,” Stanton said before Wednesday night’s series finale against the Padres. “There’s always going to be a little something in there, but it felt good.”

Stanton, in previous returns from the IL, hasn’t always gone on minor league rehab assignments, but guessed that he will unless there are more rehabbing pitchers with the team like Cousins was this week.

“I’ll need some (games), he said.

Stanton conceded he was managing the pain at the end of last season when he was a tour de force for the Yankees, hitting seven homers and driving in 16 runs in 14 postseason games. And Boone believe that when the club gets Stanton back, they will be getting that kind of player.

“I know when (Stanton) is in there, he's ready to go . . . and you know he's not going to be in there if he doesn't feel like he can be really productive,” Boone said. “I know when that time comes, when he's ready to do that we should be in a good spot. . . . Obviously understanding he'll probably deal with some things, but he was dealing with it pretty darn well down the stretch last year.”

When asked about whether there is a level of pain where it becomes manageable, Stanton replied: “If I’m out there, I am good enough to play and there’s no levels of anything else.”

The Yankees had Aaron Judge in rightfield, Cody Bellinger in centerfield and Jasson Dominguez in left with Trent Grisham on the bench to start Wednesday’s game. Boone said it had nothing to do with the matchup with San Diego starter Dylan Cease.

“(I’m) just trying to keep them all playing as much as possible and keep them sharp,” he said. “It gives you a chip off the bench in a different way on that given day.”