NEW YORK — After hitting a double and pulling up to second base last Saturday, Giancarlo Stanton immediately sensed that he would be sidelined with a hamstring injury. Stanton revealed that his left hamstring tightened and he experienced a discomforting “grabbing” sensation, as he described his injury to reporters on Thursday.
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“I didn’t want to confront that right away but I did know right away,” Stanton said. “It’s not a normal feeling or a fun one.”
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— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 15, 2023
There are few players who understand the automatic dread and fear of an injury better than Stanton. He won the National League MVP in 2017 and has appeared in just 461 games for the Yankees since the peak of his career. Last season, Stanton played 110 games as he dealt with ankle and Achilles injuries. A strained quadriceps in 2021 limited him to 139 games. He strained his hamstring in an already shortened 2020 season. A biceps strain and knee sprain forced him to miss nearly the entire 2019 season; he played just 18 games.
When healthy, Stanton has been one of the league’s best hitters. But he knows his constant unavailability is a detriment to the Yankees.
“It’s unacceptable,” Stanton said. “This often. Right now. The team relies on me and I can’t have this continue to happen and put us in a spot that we weren’t prepared for. There’s guys who will fill the roles just fine but at the same time, it’s my duty and my responsibility to be out there.
“I can’t control it but at the same time, it shouldn’t be happening. It’s not like, hey, it’ll be OK later. I prepare my whole life. This is everything I put in for. It’s very disappointing and frustrating. You want to keep a positive outlook, which I have, but it’s just so unbelievable.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Stanton could potentially return in six weeks if everything goes well in his rehab. Stanton said the one thing he has learned with all of the injuries he has sustained is he knows what his body needs to bounce back as soon as possible. The Yankees normally recommend a full shutdown for some time when a player experiences an injury but Stanton said that hasn’t worked for him in the past, so he’s already started his comeback process. He hasn’t begun baseball activities but has been able to do some upper-body strength training to keep himself as ready as he can.
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Stanton was asked if he feels like his approach has to change to address the number of soft tissue injuries he’s experienced over the years. He said he’s always improving his plan in order to avoid getting hurt. Sometimes, it’s simply bad luck.
“The one thing I can say in Giancarlo’s case is I don’t question his professionalism and his commitment to doing all he needs to do to stay healthy and to be healthy,” Boone said. “There’s clearly that frustration and Giancarlo feels a responsibility to this team and this organization to be the great player that he is, but to be able to do it more often. I think there’s that disappointment and frustration. He feels bad for us. I don’t say unacceptable because I know the person and what he goes through and how he prepares.
“Sports (are) hard and you get hurt sometimes. As long as you’re doing everything possible to put yourself in the best position to be healthy then it’s acceptable. We’ll do the best we can to get him right and get him back out there and get him impacting us like we know (he) can.”
Stanton was one of the Yankees’ best hitters to begin the season. Through 13 games, he had an .854 OPS, four homers and 11 RBIs. When Stanton dealt with soft tissue, lower body injuries last season, they zapped nearly all of his power and ability to be an effective hitter. In 34 second-half games last season, Stanton hit .151/.246/.336 with seven homers and one double.
The path to a full recovery from a lower body soft tissue injury for a hitter is always daunting, even for a player who has experienced them seemingly every year.
“I mean, the disbelief and disappointment at this stage is hard to put into words and kind of comprehend,” Stanton said. “It’s very frustrating.
“I’m in the peak of midseason form. Now I’m back to square one walking three feet at a time to get back to the motions that I need to go out to play.”
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Boone said Yankees starter Carlos Rodón will undergo a CT scan on his back. Rodón’s MRI showed everything is structurally sound but the nagging pain in his back has persisted.
“He’s not going to throw for the next couple of days but hopefully it’s just that,” Boone said. “It’s frustrating, of course, when you’re trying to get built up and it throws a wrinkle in it. I don’t think it’s going to be anything that prevents him from hopefully, in the next couple of days, (building) back up.”
Rodón has yet to pitch for the Yankees after signing a six-year, $162 million contract this offseason. His only outing in a Yankees uniform came in spring training when he pitched two innings and gave up five runs and two homers to the Atlanta Braves.
Luis Severino inching closer to returning
Luis Severino was shut down late in spring with a strained lat but is getting closer to pitching in live games. He threw 20 pitches in a live batting practice and another 15 pitches in the bullpen. Boone said Severino’s fastball velocity hovered around 95 to 96 mph.
The next step for Severino will be a trip to the team’s facility in Tampa to continue rehabbing before starting his rehab assignment. Severino will require multiple rehab starts before the Yankees call him up to the Bronx. If all goes well, the Yankees are still deciding how many pitches they’d be comfortable with before calling him back up.
“Is it 70, 75, 80 pitches? There’s going to be that build-up,” Boone said.
Updates on Bader, Donaldson
Yankees center fielder Harrison Bader is expected to play for the Somerset Patriots, the team’s Double-A affiliate, Friday night. It’s still unknown how many games Bader will play in the minors before the Yankees feel he’s ready to return.
Third baseman Josh Donaldson underwent an MRI on his hamstring Thursday. The team is still deciding if he needs to be shut down further or if he can resume his rehab assignment. Donaldson played one game with Somerset earlier this week but still experienced tightness in his hamstring.
(Photo: Mike Stobe / Getty Images)
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