Giancarlo Stanton’s return timeline still remains murkey for Yankees

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Two-plus months after the Yankees waited a few days to see if he could avoid an injured list stint altogether, Giancarlo Stanton remains without any real timeline to return to the active roster.

After suffering a setback with his right calf strain last month, when he appeared to be a few days away from being activated from the IL, Stanton is still not running again, according to manager Aaron Boone, as his rehab remains slow-moving.

Asked if he expects the veteran slugger to play again this season, Boone said he did.

“Now, that being said, I’m surprised it’s been this long,” Boone said Monday at Tropicana Field before the Yankees beat the Rays 5-1. “But yes, I expect him back.”

Stanton missed his 64th straight game Monday and did not join the Yankees on this trip, despite injured players often doing so in order to rehab at the club’s player development complex in Tampa.

Boone did not have much in the way of specifics as to what Stanton is doing other than not yet running; he had advanced to running the bases before getting re-injured last month. The manager had said last Monday that Stanton was “moving again with more intensity and hitting against velo[city] again,” though as of this Monday, Boone only said the 36-year-old was “upping the treadmill stuff he’s doing.”

“I don’t know that it’s [a] slower [buildup after the setback], we’ve just been listening to the body and following when he has gotten the images and things like that,” Boone said. “What he’s been able to tolerate, we’ve been able to do.”

Jasson Domínguez and Boone both got upset in the seventh inning after home plate umpire Emil Jimenez did not allow Domínguez to challenge a low called strike despite him tapping his helmet fairly quickly after the pitch — a repeat of what happened last month with the same hitter and umpire at Yankee Stadium.

Domínguez also tried to challenge a high strike called by Jimenez during a June 17 game, but the umpire did not grant either one.

“The same thing happened and [Jimenez] pointed to the dugout like it was influenced by us,” Boone said. “The dugout’s always going to react. He did it instantaneously. It’s a bad call, it’s a bad look and I don’t get it. I know it’s this crew, they’re sticklers for being immediate and all that. It was pretty immediate. The challenge absolutely should’ve been allowed like it absolutely should’ve been allowed a couple weeks ago.”

Boone said he did not stick around for a full explanation “because I was going to lose my mind.”

After leaving Sunday’s game early with right big toe discomfort, Jazz Chisholm Jr. was back in the lineup Monday playing second base and going 0-for-2 with a walk. … The Yankees are waiting on naming a starter for Thursday’s series finale to see how their bullpen looks, though Elmer Rodríguez would be the obvious call-up candidate for a spot start.