Chris

Stewart

Stewart made only 17 plate appearances at the major league level last season. The veteran catcher holds a .230/.297/.291 career batting line in the bigs.

It was a mild surprise the White Sox never grabbed another veteran catcher to help out in September, especially with Sandy Alomar Jr. being so fragile. Stewart, 24, will be making his major league debut. He hit .265/.314/.393 in 272 at-bats for Charlotte.

Stewart is calling the ankle injury a “strain” and acknowledged Monday that he’s not sure when he will be able to return. He’s batting .199/.278/.267 on the season.

Stewart was acquired in order to add some depth at catcher, and the only reason he stuck on the roster is because he was out of options and Cervelli wasn’t. “I think [Cervelli] is one of the 60 best catchers in the game, no doubt,’’ GM Brian Cashman said. “Right now we have maybe three of the best 60 catchers in the game. That’s good for us, not for him.’’

Chris Stewart will make the start behind the plate and catch Phil Hughes. Andruw Jones will make the start in right field while Eduardo Nunez gets another start in left.

It’s not clear where’s headed and Shea notes that the deal is “pending.” Stewart, who is out of options this spring, batted .204/.283/.309 with three homers, 10 RBI and a .592 OPS over 67 games with the Giants last season while throwing out 28 percent (22-for-56) of attempted basestealers.

However, he adds that nothing is official and the team hasn’t announced anything yet. It’s not clear what the Yankees would have in mind for him, either. The 30-year-old backstop batted .204/.283/.309 with three homers, 10 RBI and a .592 OPS over 67 games with the Giants last year.

Here’s a surprise. Stewart will begin the season on the Yankees’ Opening Day roster while Francisco Cervelli will head down to Triple-A. The 30-year batted just 204/.283/.309 over 183 plate appearances with the Giants last season, so it’s a little surprising to see the Yankees give up something of value for him.

“Sure, he’s done enough to make this club,” Bochy said. “We need to decide what’s best for Hector and the club.” Sanchez has cooled off at the plate recently, batting only 2-for-12 (.167) since his blistering .452 start. But he has hit much better than veteran catchers Eli Whiteside and Chris Stewart, and also projects as a better hitter going forward. Although Bochy has highlighted the need to boost the Giants’ offense, don’t be surprised if he gives the youngster a little more seasoning at Triple-A to start the season.

Eduardo Nunez is serving as the Yankees’ DH and Russell Martin is getting the night off in Monday’s series-opening tilt against the Rangers. It’s the second consecutive time that Stewart has caught staff ace CC Sabathia, but that is probably just a coincidence.