Luke Voit Expected to Begin Rehab Assignment in Triple-A

The Yankees are one step closer to getting their star first baseman back.

Slugger Luke Voit is expected to start playing rehab games in Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and could rejoin the team as early as their next homestand, which starts on August 30.

Voit has been dealing with a sports hernia for most of August, but considering that the initial thought was that he wouldn't return to action until the end of the month, if at all this year, this is incredibly good news for the Yankees.

He's been a force at the plate this season, slashing .278/.392/.493 with 19 home runs and 54 RBI across 416 plate appearances. He narrowly missed out on being selected to the All-Star game after his tremendous first half of the season.

In his absence, the Yankees have tried out a handful of guys at first base, most notably Mike Ford. The rookie has struggled to fill in for Voit, posting a paltry .632 OPS in 91 plate appearances.

Getting Voit back adds yet another threat to an already stacked, though depleted, batting order. It also serves as a reminder that the Yankees still have plenty of talent left to add off of the injured list to assist in their run through October.

The Bronx Bombers finally seem to be getting healthy down the stretch, and that's bad news for the rest of the league.