by EJ Fagan
February 17, 2025
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NOTE: The following comes from EJ Fagan's substack page and is shared with permission. This was published a few days ago so the stats don't include the last few games.
Please check out EJ's substack page for more great articles.
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Every year, some player comes into camp with an unexpected injury. One year, Thairo Estrada showed up with a bullet wound. This year, it was Giancarlo Stanton.
Stanton has what Aaron Boone describes as “tennis elbow” on both sides. Apparently, he has been dealing with it since the playoffs. He won’t receive any treatment other than ice and rest. It doesn’t sound like he will be available on Opening Day.
On the one hand, Stanton was pretty good in the playoffs. He doesn’t ever need to throw a ball, so his elbows aren’t particularly important. This may just end up being a tiny footnote on the season.
On the other hand, Giancarlo Stanton has a chronic injury that as bothering him at the end of the 2024 season and seems to have resurfaced once he started ramping up in camp. It sure seems possible that this problem will linger, keep him out for awhile, or even end in surgery.
I have one crazy theory that is completely unsupported by evidence: maybe the Yankees just want to warehouse Stanton for a bit. Let Stanton go sit on a beach for two months, then call him up when the weather gets warm.
Either way, the Yankees are down a designated hitter. And it isn’t immediately apparent who will fill in while he’s out. Who are the candidates?
Trent Grisham. Aaron Judge would move over to DH for most games, probably with Bellinger in right. I hate it.
DJ LeMahieu, Oswaldo Cabrera or Oswald Peraza. We’re barely comfortable with one of these guys at third base, let alone DH.
Spencer Jones. Unless he’s about to show off a new contact-oriented swing, he’s not close.
Dominic Smith. The Yankees haven’t brought in a ton of NRI veterans this year, but they did bring in Smith. The problem is that Smith has a .241/.311/.360 batting line since 2021 across more than 1500 plate appearances. Hard pass. At least the young guys have upside.
Ben Rice. Okay, now we’re getting somewhere. Rice is still a legitimate major league prospect, having posted an OPS just under 1.000 in the high minors last year. Maybe he can recapture some of the magic that he showed early in his call up last year once free from the burdens of learning a new position and the pressures of batting leadoff (!).
Everson Pereira. The last time we saw him, Pereira hadn’t made much progress at making contact. But a lot can change when you have nothing else to do but rehab from Tommy John. Pereira has been able to do nothing but work out and swing for a while now. Maybe he’ll come into camp with an approach that works. He’s got so much power that just a little bit of contact can go a long way.
TJ Rumfield. He’s my dark horse. Rumfield has never really taken off, but been a consistent above average hitter at every minor league level. He’s also a strong defender, so I could imagine Goldschmidt DHing against right-handed pitchers while Rumfield plays first.
Jesus Rodriguez or Rafael Flores. Both just barely made it to Double-A. Both are promising hitting prospects who are probably not catchers in the majors (Rodriguez at least is a strong defender at third). I could see Rodriguez having one hell of a Spring and forcing his way onto the roster for a few weeks since he’s on the 40-man, but realistically both are mid-season options at best.
Brennan Davis. I don’t know much about him, but the Yankees signed him to a minor league contract and his Triple-A batting line is good. His career was derailed by a nasty abdominal injury and a Spring Training concussion in consecutive years. I’ll be watching once games start. He plays a poor outfield and bats righty.
A free agent. Justin Turner is still out there, but I doubt the Yankees would bring in anyone of note unless Stanton is out for a long time. Turner would arguably be an upgrade over Stanton.
A trade. Ditto, although I could see them taking a flyer on someone else’s Triple-A slugger without a position.
It’s not an inspiring list. I’m skeptical about Stanton, but the Yankees weren’t planning to have to worry about DH. Let’s hope they don’t do something stupid like rush him back.
I kind of like the Rumfield option, but it would nice if Rice or Pereira had a big Spring. Davis wouldn’t shock me too.
Meanwhile, it is being reported that Frankie Montas, whom the Mets signed for two years, has a lat strain and will be out 6-8 weeks (I would think at least).
I don't wish either Montas or the Mets ill, but still, it's pretty predictable and pretty funny. Now the Mets know what it was like when we had to deal with Montas.
And it begins...
Stanton carried the team with his hitting during the playoffs and Series but the man turns 36 this year. Is anyone surprised? This is what happens to 260lb. 36 year olds who do athletics for a living, especially Giancarlo who was and is injury prone. All of the options that EJ mentions above are "hope"not viable solutions. Ben Rice or a trade are the best options.
does it bother anyone else that this injury apparently happened during the playoffs and they did ... WHAT in the offseason? just assumed that it would go away on its own and never tried to check on it or do anything?
if the plan was truly to have him be the DH, it seems like they could have been more proactive and not had him show up to ST too injured to play
if the plan was to keep him on the shelf for a meaningful part of the season, they could have more actively gone after another hitter, knowing they had ABs in the OF (if Judge moves to DH) or at DH- for someone without a perfect defensive…
This guy could suffer a season ending injury just by sneezing or brushing his teeth.