The New York Yankees are less than a week from Opening Day with some serious injuries to deal with following what was a very tough spring in that department.

While the most devastating is the UCL injury to AL Cy Young-winning ace Gerrit Cole, which is going to keep him out for the entire season, things have not been great on the offensive side of the ball, either.

The Yankees’ most productive player during the playoffs last year was their designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton, but it became apparent early in camp that he was having real issues.

What started as tendonitis in both elbows turned into a “high level of pain” with Stanton not even swinging a bat for the month leading up to spring. Eventually the possibility of season-ending surgery has come into play after multiple rounds of PRP (platelet-rich plasma) injections have proven not to be the remedy.

A bombshell new story from Jon Heyman of the New York Post (subscription required) has potentially revealed the initial cause of the injury, and if accurate, should make fans in New York absolutely furious.

“It seems a bat switch was recommended to Stanton last year,” Heyman wrote. “The recommender is no longer around the Yankees.”

Whether or not switching a bat could actually cause these devastating results is a question mark, and it seems it’s all conjecture for now.

At this point, though, the Yankees simply want to get Stanton back on the field no matter what the cause of injury was.

In New York’s run to the World Series for the first time in a decade-and-a-half, Stanton absolutely terrorized opposing pitchers with a slash line of .273/.339/.709 in the playoffs, hitting seven home runs, 16 RBI and 15 total hits while being named MVP of the American League Championship Series.

Since playing 139 games in 2021 and posting arguably his best season with the Yankees, Stanton has made a habit of having regular stints on the injured list over the last three years.

In that period, he has missed nearly a full campaign’s worth of games as various ailments have greatly handicapped his ability to help the team during the regular season.

When it comes to replacing the production of Juan Soto and trying to keep things on the tracks this year, a big showing from Stanton looked like it was going to be critical.

Now, it’s unknown when — or frankly if — he will be able to take the field, let alone produce if he gets there.

And by the sound of it, it’s all potentially due to the slugger deciding to switch his bat last season.