Is no news good news when it comes to Giancarlo Stanton? Probably not. New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone gave a cryptic update about the slugger before the Feb. 25 game against the Minnesota Twins.
“There’s nothing else more to say right now. Hopefully, we see him soon. If he wants to address anything, he can. But there’s really nothing more to answer right now,” Boone told reporters.
That came after a morning report stated that Stanton, who had not swung a bat in about a month, was headed to New York to see the team doctors. Boone, who was unavailable to talk to reporters until later in the afternoon, disputed this. The reports were then amended to say Stanton went back to New York for a “personal matter.”
No one does palace intrigue quite like the Yankees.
New York Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton
David Dermer-Imagn Images
But this is just noise around the growing reality.
The bottom line is that Stanton is not in Tampa swinging a bat and getting ready for Grapefruit League games just over a month before Opening Day. It is a pretty fair bet that the slugger will not be in the Yankees’ lineup on March 27 when they host the Milwaukee Brewers.
Normally, it takes hitters about two weeks of spring training games to ramp up for the season. Generally, the thought is that 35 to 40 at-bats will do. Before that, however, they have to start swinging in the batting cage, take batting practice, progress to live batting practice and then exhibition games.
That is the schedule for a healthy player. Stanton will have to go slower and more carefully.
Stanton has not been a completely healthy player for years. He admitted that he has had tendinitis in both elbows since 2023. Now, if he tries to hit, he is in actual pain.
The Yankees’ best-case scenario now is that they have Stanton healthy at some point this season, preferably in the playoffs. Opening Day is fun, but it’s meaningless in October.