Inside The Pinstripes

Yankees Already Have 'Good News' Regarding Giancarlo Stanton's Injury

Turns out Giancarlo Stanton's injury is more mild than the Yankees initially thought.

Max Goodman

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NEW YORK — After a clean win over the Orioles on Wednesday night, a victory featuring five shutout innings from JP Sears in his first MLB start, Yankees manager Aaron Boone had some good news to share. 

Before first pitch, designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton was placed on the injured list with a right calf strain, an injury traced back to his early exit during Tuesday night's comeback against Baltimore.

As it turns out, Stanton does not have a calf strain. 

"He's just got some ankle inflammation," Boone clarified. "So feel like we got good news. Achilles is fine and no strain. Just feel like this is something that's going to be short, but feel like we should knock it out and not mess with it and maybe it becomes something else."

When it comes to a timetable, Boone said the hope is Stanton can return in 10 days when he's eligible to come off the injured list. 

That means the slugger won't be available for New York's big four-game series this weekend in Tampa against the Rays, and he will miss a high-profile matchup with the Angels in the Bronx early next week, but he's expected to return quicker than he would've had this been a strain.

Stanton has dealt with a slew of lower-body injuries since he began his career in pinstripes back in 2018, missing time over the years with a quad strain, hamstring strain and knee sprain.

So far this year, he's been healthy and productive, dominating (for the most part) offensively while turning heads with his defense and the volume of his appearances in the outfield. Stanton is hitting .285/.339/.523 with 11 home runs and 35 RBI so far this season.

Boone said Wednesday afternoon that he doesn't expect this injury to hinder Stanton from playing outfield as this season progresses, a key piece in the skipper's daily puzzle to spread out playing time with New York's logjam of infielders.

"I think G and I both feel this way that playing the outfield is something that probably aids in him staying healthy a little bit," he said. "Obviously can't push it too much and he and I are really good about communicating today's a DH day or, I feel good going back to back here in the outfield. So I don't think it changes much."

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Max Goodman
MAX GOODMAN

Max Goodman covers the New York Yankees for Sports Illustrated and FanNation. Goodman has been on the Yankees beat for three seasons. He is also the publisher of Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Jets site, Jets Country. Before starting Inside The Pinstripes, Goodman attended Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Sports Media, graduating in 2019. At school, Goodman was an anchor and reporter with NNN SportsNight and played on the club baseball team. While at Northwestern, Goodman interned with MLB.com as an associate reporter covering the Miami Marlins. He also interned with ESPN, working as an associate reporter on Mike Greenberg's Get Up. Goodman is from New York City. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen. Follow Goodman on Twitter @MaxTGoodman. You can connect with him via email by reaching out at maxgoodmansports@gmail.com.

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