Yankeees’ Paul Goldschmidt may land on IL with right knee sprain

A seemingly ideal spot for Paul Goldschmidt to pinch hit for Austin Wells against a lefty reliever in the seventh inning came and went Wednesday night, and Aaron Boone offered a reason afterward.

Goldschmidt was unavailable to play due to what the team called a low-grade sprain of the right knee suffered while fielding a pop-up in foul territory the previous night.

Boone said after a 4-1 loss to the Twins that a stint on the injured list is a possibility for the veteran first baseman, but Goldschmidt hopes the inflammation will subside in the coming days.

“I felt like I could continue to play, which I did, but I had it checked out today and hopefully we’ll be good to go,” Goldschmidt said. “There’s a chance, but I don’t think it’s anything long term. It even could be short term as far as a day or two.”

Wells struck out against lefty reliever Kody Funderburk with a runner on third for the final out in the seventh.

With Giancarlo Stanton making his third consecutive start in right field, a healthy but slumping Jasson Domínguez essentially has become the odd man out in the Yankees outfield picture.

Domínguez entered Wednesday’s game against the Twins with one hit in his previous 19 at-bats since Aug. 2.

“Yeah, a little bit of that. I mean, he’s fine,” Boone said of Domínguez before the game. “It’s day to day. I’m just trying to match it up the best we can, and obviously trying to do all we can to win every day.

“JD is a big part of it. I know it’s now a few days he hasn’t played. It’s a little snapshot in a long season. So he could be the most central figure in the next game. He’s done a good job, but with our roster situation, like getting a lot of production in some other places right now, and we gotta roll.”

With Aaron Judge relegated to DH duties for the past eight games, Stanton (1-for-4) made his fourth outfield start after not donning a glove since 2023.

According to Boone, Judge (0-4) threw in the outfield again earlier Wednesday to “continue to stretch him out,” but Boone wouldn’t commit to a possible return to right field this weekend in St. Louis.

“I think he’s been up to 120 feet or so. At some point, we’ll probably get him throwing to bases and stuff,” Boone said. “So again, it seems to be going well, but no timeline as far as a target date of when he’s back in yet.”

Pitchers Ryan Yarbrough (oblique) and Fernando Cruz (oblique) are slated to begin their minor league rehab assignments Thursday for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.