Yankees Already Dealing With a Giancarlo Stanton Headache Before He Even Returns

Giancarlo Stanton makes the lineup that much more deadly, but constructing the roster around him is tough when he's healthy.

How will Giancarlo Stanton slot back into the Yankees' lineup when he returns? Or, better yet, who will come out of the mix to make room for him? | David Butler II-Imagn Images

One thing is clear when Giancarlo Stanton is healthy and in the Yankees' lineup. He gives them prodigious power. Even at the age of 36 years old and seemingly winding down in his career, his bat-to-ball skills are impeccable. Few can make the type of contact that he does. This season, Stanton has a 94.1 mph average exit velocity, an 18% barrel rate, and a 44.3% hard-hit rate.

G did the Monster Mash 💪 pic.twitter.com/7dF28LYc3c

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) April 21, 2026

Stanton has been out of New York's lineup and on the injured list since late April due to a right calf injury. On Tuesday, though, Yankees fans received a positive update on his condition when manager Aaron Boone revealed that Stanton would resume live hitting on Wednesday, per NY Daily News Sports' Gary Phillips.

While it's great to see Stanton improving, the big question is how the Yankees' roster will take shape when he's healthy enough to play. Sure, those 454-foot home runs are majestic, but at this point in his career, he doesn't have much mobility. Stanton is stuck as a designated hitter, and the rest of the roster has to maneuver around him.

Figuring out who to remove when Stanton returns won't be easy

The big issue this year, when Stanton is healthy, is Paul Goldschmidt's playing time. Goldschmidt has excelled in a more pronounced role since Stanton went down. He's slashing .276/.364/.534 with a 152 wRC+. His 1.3 WAR, according to Fangraphs, has already eclipsed his 1.2 from 2024 and 0.8 from last year.

If Judge's injury isn't too severe and he plays soon, it would be hard to get him, Stanton, Goldschmidt, and Ben Rice in the lineup at the same time. The only conceivable way to make that happen is to put the Yankees in a position they have been avoiding.

That's by making Ben Rice a catcher. The problem there is that Boone said he wanted Rice to catch one or two innings in a game in case of emergency. He was against playing him full-time at the position. If it is something the Yankees do consider, it does free up the roster a bit. Rice would be the backstop; Judge could be in right field, Goldschmidt could play first, and Stanton would DH.

Should the Yankees consider making Ben Rice their starting catcher? | Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images

The problem with that plan is that Rice is not nearly as good a defensive backstop as Austin Wells is. Wells' plus-4 framing runs saved, per Baseball Savant, are in the 95th percentile in baseball. He has a 67th percentile blocks above average with plus-2.

Last season, Rice had minus-1 framing runs saved and minus-2 blocks above average. Taking away the defensive aspect, though, how does having to take up catching duties affect Rice at the plate? Rice had 114 plate appearances as a catcher.

He hit .221/.342/.537. It wasn't bad, and while batting average isn't the end-all, be-all, it did take a dip. What does that look like this year, in a season in which he's hitting .306? All of this would be an improvement over Wells, but tampering with Rice while he's rolling doesn't seem like a good idea.

This is just the quandary that the Yankees find themselves in with Stanton. Unless they find a way to be creative or potentially put Rice in at catcher, somebody is losing playing time. These are good problems to have, but still problems nonetheless.