It was only two weeks. The Yankees went two weeks with their sluggers all healthy, before Giancarlo Stanton was put on the injured list Sunday morning. The Yankees slugger strained his left hamstring in the Bombers’ 5-3 loss to the Rays Saturday night and Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he was expecting it to be a IL situation.
“I’m hurting for him,” manager Aaron Boone said. “I know what he’s done to be here. His play speaks for itself. Hopefully it’s something that doesn’t end up keeping him down too long.”
The Yankees activated Thairo Estrada to fill Stanton’s roster spot on Sunday, but Boone said they would re-sevaluate that move when they get back to New York on Monday.
The Yankees also had Miguel Andujar on the taxi squad and they have Clint Frazier in Scranton if they want to add an outfielder. Stanton had been limited to the designated hitter role and the Bombers will have to be “creative” to fill that role, Boone said. Sunday, Mike Ford was the DH.
Stanton felt tightness after sliding into second base on a fourth-inning wild pitch Saturday night. He remained in the game to score that inning, but was pulled after that, according to Boone,
After a summer training camp talking about how the silver lining in the four-month, coronavirus pandemic shutdown was that the Yankees had a fully healthy lineup, this is a blow, if an unsurprising one. This has been the lament of the Yankees fans since they acquired Stanton before the 2018 season — there has been so little time where both their giant power hitters Stanton and Aaron Judge have been healthy at the same time. They got a little teasing taste of that potential to start this season.
While Judge has missed time with injuries both seasons, it’s been a series of injury after injury for Stanton.
The 30-year old outfielder played just 18 regular-season games last year. He strained his left biceps the first weekend of the season. While rehabbing from that, Stanton also dealt with a strained left shoulder and then, as he was beginning to rehab he strained his left calf. He returned to play six games before he jammed his knee running bases and missed 73 games before returning in September.
And then he suffered a right quad strain during the ALCS, playing in just two games of that series that ended the Yankees season.
This spring, Stanton played in one Grapefruit League game before he was sidelined by a strained right calf.
Stanton had taken off weight during the quarantine and worked on trying to stay healthy.
“This will be something that we continue to try and obviously help him, avoid these situations moving forward,” Boone said. “You know that that’s going to be a process. I feel like he can get there, obviously, having the injury that he had in spring training and then basically rehabbing that through spring and and through quarantine and everything.
“It creates a little bit of a challenge but you know there’s no doubt that I feel like physically he’s in a much better place and hopefully we can continue to make strides,” Boone added. “Not only moving forward in the immediate in the present and the rest of this year but also into the offseason, and kind of doing things that will set him up to be healthy over the long term.”
The Yankees acquired Stanton and the bulk of his $325 million contract from the rebuilding Marlins after the 2017 season. They owed him $214 million over the remaining eight seasons coming into this season. His 2020 salary has been prorated over a 60-game season because of the coronavirus pandemic. He has an opt out after the 2020 season — which is very unlikely at this point. The Marlins kicked in $30 million to ship Stanton out.
When healthy, Stanton has been productive.
Stanton slashed .288/.403/.492 with three home runs and 13 RBI in those 18 regular-season games last season. He hit .230 with two RBI in 13 postseason at-bats.
In 14 games this season, Stanton was 12-for-41 with three homers and seven RBI. His last home run came in the afternoon game on Saturday.
CHAPMAN UPDATE
Aroldis Chapman came through his bullpen on Saturday fine and is expected to throw to live hitters next. The Yankees closer is returning from a stint on the COVID-19 list and ramping up at the alternative training site in Scranton.
“I believe his next [step] will be live hitters possibly Tuesday,” Boone said Sunday morning.
Chapman tested positive for the coronavirus the first week of the rebooted spring training. The 32-year-old was asymptomatic, according to Boone and was seen on his Instagram working out religiously during his quarantine.
Chapman, who is a six-time All-Star, posted a 2.21 ERA and 37 saves in 60 appearances last season. He was the back-end of a bullpen built to shut down games after the fifth inning.
Now, however, the Yankees have Zack Britton closing in his place. It’s a luxury that Britton, who recorded 62 saves in 2016, can step in. So far he is 5-for-5 in save opportunities.
