Yankees Star Slugger Gets Rare Head Start at Spring Training

There's a hamate bone plague sweeping through Major League Baseball. Corbin Carroll, Francisco Lindor, and Jackson Holliday are all dealing with the same thing. For anybody who has followed the New York Yankees, catastrophic injury news always comes out at this time of the year, and it felt like the team was due for it with the rash of injuries plaguing the league now, but, outside of what we already knew, the club has a clean bill of health.

In the case of Giancarlo Stanton, even he's healthy. Boone mentioned it when he met with the media for the first time since pitchers and catchers reported.

"I think he's doing great," Boone said of Stanton, according to Randy Miller of NJ.com. "I haven't seen him yet. He's one of the guys that will get here. But he's had a good winter. He's ready to roll. I don't expect any limitations. I usually slow-play him into games in spring, so you might not see him that first week."

Mar 20, 2024; Tampa, Florida, USA; New York Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton (27) hits a home run during the fourth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

The Early Season Injury Woes

You hate to make light of a player's health, but over the years, he has been at the center of the injury bug news. Since being traded to the Yankees, he has dealt with big injuries at the start of camp twice.

Last season, Boone announced that Stanton was dealing with tennis elbow. He played through it as he led the team to the World Series in 2024.

In 2020, Stanton would have missed the start of the year with a grade 1 calf strain. The pandemic shortened bought him some time, but he still missed 30 of the 60 games that year.

Oct 9, 2020; San Diego, California, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) celebrates with designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton (27) after hitting a solo home run against the Tampa Bay Rays during the fourth inning of game five of the 2020 ALDS at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-Imagn Images | Orlando Ramirez-Imagn Images

Of course, most of Stanton's injuries occur at the start of the season. He has gone down for prolonged periods of time with injuries that have occurred in April, May, or June in 2019, 2022, 2023, and 2024.

The Best Case Scenario

It's unlikely that Stanton will ever play as many games as he did his first year in New York. In 2018, he got in 158 games, but if there's one mark to shoot for, it could be 2021. That season, he saw one brief stint on the injured list and played in 139 games.

Stanton hit .273/.354/.516 with a 138 wRC+. He hit 35 homers and drove in 97 RBI.

That's a mark that any fan would shoot for at this point. The Yankees sought out right-handed bats all winter before eventually settling on the returning Paul Goldschmidt. A healthy Stanton would ease a lot of the organization's concerns.

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