Stanton, who has been out since February with tennis elbow in both arms, took live at-bats at Yankee Stadium before Tuesday’s 12-3 victory over the San Diego Padres. The five-time All-Star grounded out to shortstop and drew a walk against rehabbing reliever Jake Cousins.

For Yankees fans, it’s always nice to see an encouraging sight from a batter’s box in The Bronx. This is exactly the kind of sight that was witnessed hours before Tuesday’s 12-3 win over the San Diego Padres.

Hours before Tuesday’s 12-3 win over the Padres, the Yankees witnessed an encouraging sight: Giancarlo Stanton was back in the batter’s box in The Bronx and taking competitive at-bats against a pitcher. It represented progress and one more step during a slow buildup process that has an unknown number of steps.