Feb. 17: Stanton tells reporters that the pain level he’s currently experiencing is “very high” in both elbows, adding that it’s been three to four weeks since he swung a bat (via MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch). Both Stanton and Boone compared the issue to tennis elbow, with Stanton noting that there’s some degree of tendon tearing in each elbow that’d be at risk for surgery if he were to “blow it up” by “overdoing” it while dealing with the injury (via Greg Joyce of the New York Post). However, that’s not a concern at this time, Stanton emphasized.
Feb. 16: Yankees position players reported to camp today ahead of their first full-squad workout tomorrow, and the injury updates have already begun to creep in. Manager Aaron Boone told reporters (including The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner) today that both veteran slugger Giancarlo Stanton and center fielder Trent Grisham are behind in camp due to injuries. Stanton is suffering from soreness in both elbows, while Grisham is dealing with a hamstring issue. Grisham’s injury appears to be of relatively little concern, as MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch notes that he’s already resumed baseball activities and is running at near full strength again. Stanton’s issue, however, appears to be more serious. Hoch relays that Boone was noncommittal about Stanton’s timeline when asked if the issue could impact the slugger’s availability for Opening Day.
“I don’t know,” Boone said (as relayed by Hoch). “I’m not going to put any timeline on it. We’re just going to be smart about it.”
Stanton’s health has been tricky for the Yankees to navigate over the years, but the fact that his latest ailment is an upper body issue is worth noting. The 35-year-old has made a number of trips to the injured list over his seven years in a Yankees uniform, but all but one of those IL stints have been due to lower half issues pertaining to his hamstrings, calves, or knees. The lone exception to that was a biceps strain that sidelined him early in the 2019 season, which ultimately cost him six weeks of the regular season.
Losing Stanton to start the year would be a frustrating development for a Yankees lineup that already lost Juan Soto and Gleyber Torres in free agency. While the additions of Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger to the lineup should be improvements over the difficult seasons Alex Verdugo and Anthony Rizzo had last year, the club is currently set to rely on internal options in the form of Jasson Dominguez, Oswaldo Cabrera, and DJ LeMahieu to fill in the holes in left field and at third base. The loss of Stanton would serve to further thin out the club’s lineup card.
The club’s internal options seem unlikely to offer anything close to the solid .233/.298/.475 (116 wRC+) that Stanton posted in 2024, but outfield prospect Everson Pereira is healthy entering Spring Training after having his 2024 campaign cut short by UCL surgery. Pereira has a solid .287/.365/.530 slash line in 75 career games at the Triple-A level but struggled in a 27-game cup of coffee at the big league level in 2023. Another option could be first baseman/catcher Ben Rice, a bat-first prospect who was called up to fill in for Rizzo at first base last year but has returned to catching over the offseason and figures to compete for the club’s back-up catcher spot behind Austin Wells.
Baseball’s Anthony Davis
I think that’s someone who shares Davis’ name, Anthony Rendon
RedSoxx – Good point, but the difference with Stanton is that it’s probably self-inflicted again.
This latest Stanton injury once again sounds like it could be the result of working out too hard, specifically by weightlifting/resistance training.
Let’s see who misses the most time this year, Stanton or O’Neill. Both seem to care more about bodybuilding than baseball.
Atta boy. Nothing like coming right out in mid-season form.
Heaven forbid they have to fill positions from within. That’s not the Yankee way. The Yankee way is to not play the prospects for fear they may lose trade value, and then ask the world for them in talks.
@sty
I don’t know if I agree. Frazier, Andujar, Urshela, Voit, Bird, Gardner, Higgy, Food, Austin and recently, Rice and Dominguez are all prospects they called up and have them a shot. Some had a longer leash than others.
@sty
Not sure if I agree. Gardner, Andujar, Frazier, Voit, Bird, Higgy, Urshela, Solarte and of late, Rice and Dominguez are all guys that were called up to replace someone.
And then DFA those prospects after they’ve held onto them for far too long, i.e. Frazier/Andújar.
So which is it, they don’t give them a chance or they have them too much of a chance? Frazier never stuck and Ambush had 1 great year, missed a year to injury and came back a shadow of himself. He was trade value humbled once he came back of the missed season.
Anyone else having issues with this site today?
Not that I’ve noticed
Only when they try to make subtle political statements, Iron.
Is that a subtle political statement? =)
Haven’t noticed any subtle political statements. Maybe they were too subtle. These guys are too conscientious to mix politics and baseball so maybe you were reading into things.
Not with this article, Ignorant. But every once in a while it happens here.
Back to baseball.
Totally unexpected
He shouldn’t show up til June anyway lol
If he’s having problems with BOTH elbows, they very likely could be caused by weight-lifting exercises.
As were the past leg injuries. The baseball part running of the bases causes it to pull or tear, but it stems from the lifting.
Stanton should give up lifting weights at his age and concentrate on improving his cognitive skills and maybe take up crochet or basket weaving.
I was thinking maybe he had been laying on his stomach too much, elbows akimbo, hands resting on face, perhaps staring at sunsets in a hayfield?
Very wholesome
Well that was quick.
I don’t even care anymore – He’s a postseason monster! As long as he’s there in October, I’m all good, man.
Yep Clipper. Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise. He misses time early and is ready for October.
just put him in a hyperbaric chamber until 10/1 then set him loose!
Unless he’s “running” the bases.
Stanton really is the worst
No he really isn’t Anthony Rendon is the worst. Followed closely by Jacey Baez and Trevor Story.
Stephen Strasburg says hi.
Chris Davis grunts.
Jacoby Ellsbury says, “Can I join in”?
Davis was there he just was terrible at his job in Baltimore
Right on cue. Ahahahahaha!
Will it effect his throws from the dugout?
Yes, have you not watched him throw the Bubble Gum and sunflower seeds?! How’s he supposed to do that with a bad arm?
Stanton wants an extension….
…a hyperextension?
Yes, and he doesn’t want that hyperextension deferred. He’ll take it defibrillated.
Die hard fan…..but I dislike the way this team is constructed this year. A 300m payroll with no 3B, no backup C and questions all over the batting order.
…I tend to agree. The pitching is the best in the AL East, probably, but it’s kinda a mess of odd shapes for the regulars. Depth is not there.
I think it’ll be the Red Sawx and the Orioles battling it out for 1st this year, and the Yankees a bit further back.
Baltimore will be a 3rd place team.
I have the AL East as a 2 horse race between the Orioles and Yankees right now, but we’ll see.
If Buehler somehow stays healthy and regains his past ace form, Boston could be right there too, but I am not expecting that.
The orioles are the best team in the division and it’s not particularly close. They won 91 Games last year with one healthy starter. But ok. Keep dreaming…
The also lost Corbin Burnes and Santander. Do you even watch baseball?
Losing Santander shouldn’t be an issue. They’ll rely on great platoon stats from ONeil /Kjerstad plus the development of holiday, Mayo, etc. As you burnes, apparently you’re as slow as most Yankees fans and I need to hold your hand and spell it out to you…even with having lost Burnes, the rotation should very easily out perform last years team bc they won’t be down 5 of 6 sps. The rotation isn’t great but it’s deep and the pen should be much improved with Kitteridge and Felix returning. Meanwhile, the Yankees way over-performed last year. They can’t possibly hope for similar health and have so many question marks they resemble a Riddler costume. The smart money is choosing the under on the Yankees. The fact you lack even basic comprehension skills, well…standard stupid Yankees fan.
Thanks for showing us that you’re the village idiot. Bless your heart.
YanksPhan- Losing Santander is not really that big of a deal, he is a very 1 dimensional hitter and the combo of O’Neill and Kjerstad should mostly replace his production, and there’s a very good chance they’ll actually exceed his performance overall in 2025. With the other additions bolstering the offense against lefties and continued development from the young guys like Cowser, Holliday, Westburg, etc., the offense should be even better than it was last year.
Burnes not re-signing definitely hurts the rotation, but both Morton and Sugano should provide competent innings coverage and the bullpen has a much higher ceiling than last year with Bautista’s return and the addition of Kittredge, plus full seasons from Dominguez and Soto.
I think it’s a more balanced roster with much better depth, and slightly better overall, but a game 1 playoff starter will probably still need to be added at the deadline to finish rounding out the team for October.
A game one playoff starter/ace is a HUGE deal. Especially since the Yankees have 2 aces and the rookie of the year on their staff.
Also, counting on continued advancement from the youngsters is far from a given. I could play that card too and say that Dominguez, Wells and Volpe getting better this year will compensate for the loss of Soto. Can’t count on that. I’m a fan, but also a realist.
We will see who the real dummy is soon..
Red Sox and O’s better than the yankees this year is laughable content thanks for that
Well sorry that you will realize quickly that the joke was on you.
WideWorld — The Orioles and Red Sawx are on the right side of the age curve and can expect growth.
The Yankees are on the wrong side of the age curve and can expect less than previous production.
No doubt, Baltimore is young. Have you compared Red Sox lineup to Yankees lineup?
The orioles are substantially better than the Yankees. It’s not particularly close either.
@O’s
Depth can be improved ion during the spring and into the mid-season. They’re no way you can look at this lineup and not see that it’s been improved upon. Goldy, Belli and Dominguez should be improvement for Rizzo and Verdugo should be an improvement in the field and offensively. Freida and Williams should be a bump up from Cortes and Holmes. 3b is the only question mark but if he’s 100% healthy I’m sure DJ can be useful.
The most important SP on their staff is Gil. Why you ask? Because he is the ONLY one with upside.!! Yes on paper they are probably the best staff around…..just keep EMT warming up in the bullpen !! Gil has to come up big this year…. And he was horrible in the 2nd half LY….. and if you take out May where he was lights out, his era for the year was 4.50 !
We Blue Jays fans are saying the same thing about our team.
I think they got way worse in the offseason with the exception of Fried signing. They are expecting everything to go right like Jasson acclimating, DJ ,Goldy, Stanton, and Bellinger finding youth, and Judge to be MVP level. Seems fragile.
Precisely. If EVERYTHING works out then they can win the division. But last year they barely beat an orioles team that had the most ravaged pitching staff in baseball in the last decade while themselves experiencing health an old team like t then can’t possibly hope to repeat. If the Yankees finish within five games of the orioles it’ll be because of fantastic luck again.
@YanksPhan – You should also be worried about Stroman and how disruptive he could be in the clubhouse this season. For him to come out day 1 of spring training and say point blank that he is only a starter and he will not pitch out of the bullpen could be a big distraction for the team if they can’t trade him.
It’s quite obvious that he is taking this stance so he can hit his 140 IP this season and unlock his $18M option for 2026. A little over 1 month in the bullpen would ruin his chances of hitting that milestone.
At this point, I think the Yankees need to get on the phone with St. Louis and hammer out a deal with Arenado & Stroman. The Yankees would send them Stroman & a ‘decent’ (top 20) minor leaguer while St. Louis sends Arenado and $10M to the Yankees to help pay down years 2 & 3 of his contract. If Stroman’s 2026 option vests, then the Yankees would return the $10M paid by St. Louis at the end of the season to offset the $18M due to Stroman for 2026. This would allow St. Louis to trade one of their existing starters to another team and save money in 2025, not to mention 2026 & 2027 by getting out of the Arenado contract.
Most teams don’t want stroman. He’s a clubhouse cancer. He had the worst reputation in the sport. The cardinals will likely never bring him into their clubhouse even if the Yankees eat the entirety of the arenado money.
He can say he is a starter all he wants. If they put him in as a reliever and he refuses to play do they still have to pay him?
@Yanks
They’ll compete for 3b in spring training and back up catches are seldom anything special to talk about. As long as they can be decent defenders then that’s about all they need. I think you’re over doing it but I get it.
He’s behind?…with Elbow soreness??
Maybe stop using his elbows to run!~
Time to cue up the Nolan Arenado trade rumors again!
Arenado’s bat replace Stanton’s in the batting order. Third base is covered with Jazz Chisholm Jr. moving to 2B. DJ LeMahieu can assume most of the DH duties while backing up 2B and 3B.
DJLM a DH? *vomits*
Put Stanton on the IL and sign Justin Turner!!! Do it now!!!
Turner without a beard? I’m not sure he’d be willing to shave
Turner can keep the mustache and wear pork chop side burns.
At 40, Turner is primarily a 1B/DH. The Yankees are covered at 1B with Paul Goldschmidt as the primary starter and CF Cody Bellinger backing him up.
Nolan Arenado makes far more sense it the Yankees are willing to eat more salary with the Cardinals and/or do the same with any potential trade involving Marcus Stroman. Arenado’s bat is a more comparable replacement for Stanton’s. Nado would then push Jazz Chisholm Jr to 2B and DJ LeMahieu to more DH PA’s until Stanton can resume the role. Turner wouldn’t have any spot once Stanton is reinstated from the IL while LeMahieu would assume his backup role at 2B and 3B.
Turner can still play 3B. LeMahieu could go AWOL all season and nobody would miss him.
Is rather give the ABs to Rice. The Yanks could use a lefty power bat.
All the years of juicing is catching up to him! What a complete waste and over pay for his on field lack of production.
Here we go again Stanton health unreal, power loss w/out him behind Judge. Yanks need to get Arenado now even moreso!
The Yankees can’t find anyone else to hit 16HRs for less than $25MM?
Perfect reason to go out there and get one more Bat!
Mikey hurt already what a shock.
“Big Mike” He probably wouldn’t give me an autograph if I called him that to his face.
Spring is here, the sky is blue, water is wet, and Stanton is nursing an injury. I’d love to see just one season of him healthy and mashing again. So fun to watch someone destroy a baseball.
Actually, water is not wet. It’s a liquid that makes things it touches wet. It enwettens them.
For an insurance bat – Luke Voit is all back to health
Should have traded the contract a long time ago.
He has a full no trade contract.
Is Stanton going through another Tom Murphy….or is Murph experiencing another Giancarlo Stanton?
I bet those two have never been mentioned before in a sentence. Good job!
If he reaches 500
Should be HOFer
When he joined the Yankees 700 hrs was realistic and now we are talking 500.
Maybe the HOF of longest Home Runs or most time spent on the IL in relationship to his contract but as a regular player…no
Every member of the 500 home run club is in the HOF, will be in the HOF, or aren’t because of their connection to steroids (but otherwise would be). Stanton is only 71 homers away from 500. Along with that, he has a MVP, 6 ASG appearances, 2 silver sluggers, was an ALCS MVP, and has 18 postseason home runs and counting. He only needs 11 more PS home runs to surpass Manny Ramirez for the most of alltime. Imo, if he can get to 500 homers, he’ll get a plaque in Cooperstown eventually.
Compelling argument. David Ortiz got in with 55.3 bWAR on his first ballot with 78% of votes. Stanton currently sits at 44.7 bWAR but isn’t as accomplished as Ortiz in the postseason. He also has a low hits total. I think ultimately it would be down to who Stanton is stack against on the ballots. He won’t get in on his first ballot as he doesn’t have Ortiz’ popularity.
it’s february and i’m in irrational optimism mode so my takeaway is relief that it’s not another lower-body injury
Arenado with Nootbar and 15 million to NYY for Domínguez and LeMahieu makes sense.
No it doesn’t.
Hi BITA!
Only to s yankee fan.
Death, taxes, Stanton hurt.
And 2 more years of him AFTER this season…
So ok, guys, now we’ll need something to happen. Either trade for Arenado or bring back Verdugo or both. Or Mark Cahna could work out.
Speedy recovery to Stanton if it’s indeed serious. Both elbows? Like someone else said, sounds like weightlifting injuries. Jeez.
Or swinging the bat.
It’s actually tough to hurt both elbows doing that as they’re basically doing two completely different motions at different angles. Otherwise it’d be pretty rampant.
So just heard the Boone presser on it and he said it’s akin to tennis elbow? So I’m not sure if this a long term thing or just a maintenance thing.
I posted his quote below. Tennis elbow is just rest.
Yeah let’s calm the masses here. Not sure where MLBTR read serious, Boone said nothing of the sort.
He’s not a position player so it wouldn’t take him as much time to get ready as well. Can still do lower body and core work even with bummed elbows. Boone also stated that he could probably play through it and continue treatment in the regular season.
But he’s optimistic he’ll be able to ramp up for 2026.
Wouldn’t be an MLB season without Stanton being injured.
Patience, amigos. It’s only February (2025). The Rays and the Athletics would love to have these problems. Let’s add some ice, Old Spice, and roll the dice that Mr. Staunton will recover soon and be knocking down walls with his screaming balls.
Who is Staunton and why are his balls screaming?? Another injury?
Desinex!
Yes Virginia, there is a Staunton.
He’s not really behind… he’s ahead of his IL schedule…
“Giancarlo’s a little behind just dealing with some elbow stuff that he dealt with last year, actually both elbows kind of really akin to tennis elbow,” – Boone
Love the MLBTR overreaction comments here.
I mean let’s be honest, it’s quite common today for people to just focus on a headline without actually reading the article and then form a strong opinion/reaction over the internet on the topic 🙂
Really? I don’t know what internet you’re on but mine doesn’t do that.
Well don’t ever take off 8+ y.o. parental control off of your internet browser. It’s not rosy on the other side.
Stanton’s bobblehead doll comes bandaged.
What a surprise!!
Too much chest pounding, typical Yankee.
Stanton and Rendon both hurt before the season starts?
Whats next Buxton too?
No, you’re way off. It’ll be Bryant, Trout, THEN Buxton, Correa and Baez. Swiftly followed by ERod. Rendon, Cobb and Stanton always go first though. You know, other than Kershaw.
Kershaw is the only player who signs a contract and is immediately placed on the 60 day IL as a condition of his signing
I don’t think Baez belongs on your list. His injury was last year only. If anything, the problem has been he has played…poorly.
Apparently he puts all his weight on his elbows when he’s on all fours, lol. Just kidding. He only looks like he does, but probably doesn’t.
Stanton has been nothing but a huge bust since signing that contract.
Tell that to every team he’s decimated in the post season.
No, they fleeced the fish on that one. Remember?
Elbows? Ffs
The now hulking Ben Rice will get another chance.
Stanton just wants to avoid Spring Training.
I don’t blame him a bit. You make it to his age and you just want to eat and sleep.
And cash checks.
With all the emphasis on launch angle, why are there fewer players with a .500 slg?
Damn! He never throws a ball so why does it matter if his elbow is sore? Geez! This guy’s contract can’t be over fast enough.
He could have slept on it. Just take some Aleeve or Ibuprofen.
Or rub some dirt on it
Dodgers just called … They’ll take Stanton if he defers his contract to 2035.
I don’t get it
Stanton should use Blue-Emu like Johnny Bench.
More like butt soreness amirite?
As Elton John would sing:
I’m still Stanton!
yeah yeah yeah
Don’t worry about it. It’s just tennis elbow. I guess he just found another sport to get injured in.
This guy is done for the season.
Over muscled? Tendons give out. NSS.
Stanton and the Hall of Fame should NEVER be mentioned in the same sentence no matter how many home runs he hits. He a highly overpaid DH. What would he have done if he had stayed in the National League before both leagues adopted the DH? Miami would have had to hide him somewhere in the field. But good old Derek Jeter came along and made the Yankees an offer they couldn’t refuse.
Have you told mother?
I did break the news to Aunt Sally. She was devastated.
Why would we expect anything different..Going to be a long 3 more years
Come get you an arenado. Make a big deal out of it. Cards send arenado and helsley. Yankees send DL and a couple prospects. If Financials aren’t even, take a matz or mikolas and send back a stroman. Cards and yanks should line up
Could the Yanks and Mets do a Marte for Stroman swap? Both teams are looking to move the respective players. Stanton will be not be available much during the season and Dominguez is no guarantee. Marte could DH and play a little OF.
The glassman
He should have played in the 80s’ , early 90s’. He’d have been a good PED candidate.