Harrison Bader’s return to Yankees from oblique injury is ‘right around the corner’

NEW YORK — Yankees center fielder Harrison Bader went through a jam-packed afternoon of baseball activities on Thursday at Yankee Stadium, his first full day of baseball activities since he suffered an oblique injury just over one month ago.

Catching his breath at his locker after bouncing around from fielding drills on the outfield grass to batting practice and sprints on the base paths, the outfielder had nothing but good news to report.

Bader hasn’t felt any pain in his left oblique since the day he strained it. A few more setback-free workouts and Bader will be packing his bags for a rehab assignment at one of the Yankees’ affiliates, one final hurdle before he’s back in pinstripes.

“I feel really close,” Bader said on Thursday. “Everything felt really, really good.”

The expectation is that Bader will begin a rehab assignment next week. The day and the affiliate haven’t been determined just yet, but that next step is imminent.

“Assuming all the boxes get checked in terms of how I’m responding after [workouts], it’s right around the corner,” Bader added. “Which is very exciting.”

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Bader hurt his oblique while swinging and missing on March 8 against the Cardinals at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. At the time, he called the injury a “punch in the face,” discomfort that brought his spring training to a screeching halt.

Since Bader has been out for so long, slowly working his way back to baseball activities, he’ll need more time on a rehab assignment than normal.

“It’s not just going to be a few days down there,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “He’s got to play some games and obviously get up to playing back-to-back and volume of innings and things like that. So I don’t know exactly what it is, but it’s not just going to be a couple of days.”

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If all goes according to plan and Bader departs to join an affiliate early next week, that means he has a shot to rejoin the big-league club before the calendar flips from April to May. With an injury as finicky as an oblique, the Yankees won’t rush their starting center fielder back, though.

For Bader, a chance to return to the active roster can’t come soon enough.

“I’m fully good to go,” Bader said. “It’s really just a matter of how I respond after the activity for the day and adding a little bit more intensity there. But in terms of preparing for a game as if I were playing, we’re checking all those boxes. So again, it’s very exciting for me, I really want to be back in pinstripes.”

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Max Goodman may be reached at mgoodman@njadvancemedia.com.