Last week, the New York Yankees took a step forward into the modern world by allowing room for growth. This week, Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton appears to have taken a step backward in his recovery.<\/p>\n
The 16-year veteran has been in a holding pattern with tennis elbow in both arms throughout spring training. He told reporters that he hadn\u2019t swung a bat in three or four weeks when he reported for spring training. The injury has threatened his availability for Opening Day, but he may end up missing even more time than initially feared.<\/p>\n
While the Bronx Bombers continue preparations for the 2025 season at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Stanton returned to New York for further medical evaluation. The veteran slugger will consult with team physician Dr. Chris Ahmad on Monday and undergo testing and procedures to determine the extent of the injury, according to Randy Miller of NJ.com.<\/p>\n
While Opening Day is still a month away, the news surrounding the oft-injured slugger doesn\u2019t seem to be getting any better. When Yankees manager Aaron Boone addressed Stanton\u2019s injury on Monday, he told reporters that there\u2019s \u201cnothing imminent\u201d on his return.<\/p>\n
The Yankees already lost Juan Soto this winter, which made Stanton\u2019s bat considerably more vital to the team\u2019s success. New York has few viable replacements available if Stanton misses an extended period of time. Ben Rice, Dominic Smith and J.C. Escarra are all potential options, but none of them can replicate Stanton\u2019s power with consistency.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pain was very high in general,\u201d Stanton said earlier this month, via Ronald Blum of the Associated Press. \u201cTennis elbow or however they call it, is tears in your tendon, so it\u2019s not when did it feel good, when did it feel bad? There\u2019s always the pain level there and you got to deal with that. So, yeah, it\u2019s just the wisest point to give time right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 35-year-old said he felt the pain for most of last year, with the pain in each elbow starting two months apart. He\u2019ll likely deal with that lingering pain throughout the entirety of this season as well. The Yankees will likely take a cautious approach to ensure Stanton\u2019s availability in October, particularly due to his extensive injury history.<\/p>\n
\u201cDefinitely not just soreness,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a manageable thing. That\u2019s how the year last year and this year will go.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stanton hit .233 with 27 home runs and 72 RBIs in 114 games last year, but was sidelined for over a month with a strained left hamstring. He returned before August and played a vital role in the postseason, which culminated with the Yankees winning their first American League pennant since 2009. Stanton batted .273 with seven home runs and 16 RBIs in the postseason.<\/p>\n Last week, the New York Yankees took a step forward into the modern world by allowing room for growth. This week, Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton ap<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":36646,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n