Yankees Place Key Slugger on IL, Call-Up Former Top Prospect From Minors

The New York Yankees have placed one of their key sluggers on the IL, and called up a struggling top prospect to replace him on the roster.

Jun 11, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; New York Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton (27) runs the bases after hitting a solo home run in the seventh inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Aiken-USA TODAY Sports / Peter Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Yankees' injury woes have continued.

On Sunday, the Yankees placed star designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton on the 10-day injured list due to a left hamstring strain. As a result, they recalled struggling former top prospect infielder Oswald Peraza from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

As manager Aaron Boone told reporters, Stanton is still undergoing imaging to determine the severity of his hamstring strain. The Yankee skipper believes Stanton's injury will keep him out longer than 10 days. In the meantime, Trent Grisham will play more center field and Aaron Judge will see time at DH.

Losing Stanton is a major blow for the Yankees, as the DH has been one of the team's hottest hitters in recent weeks. On the season, the 34-year-old was back to his old home run hitting ways with 18 homers in 69 games in 2024. He also had a .246 batting average and .794 OPS, but was stroking .298 with a .849 OPS across the past week.

Stanton missed 43 games last year due to another left hamstring strain as well. And when he returned from the IL, he was unable to get things going at the plate, hitting just .191 with a .695 OPS in 101 games.

This year, Stanton looked more like his old self, but unfortunately he could not avoid suffering an additional lower body injury. For his career, Stanton has often dealt with injury problems, which has continued to be the case since he joined the Yankees ahead of the 2018 season.

Over the course of the past two weeks, Juan Soto, Judge and Gleyber Torres all dodged serious injuries. However, Stanton and first baseman Anthony Rizzo (arm fracture, out 8 weeks) were unable to do so.

As for Peraza, he has shown promise in the past, but is coming off a shoulder injury and has struggled in the minors this season with a .180 average and .604 OPS in 128 at-bats.

The Yankees could have potentially called up outfielder Jasson Dominguez to replace Stanton, but the 21-year-old is now on the IL with an oblique strain.