PHILADELPHIA — Giancarlo Stanton is a week behind original expectations on how long he’ll miss because of a hamstring injury.
But the week was spent working on increasing his stamina and volume after feeling better from the injury, and the Yankees are hoping that will benefit the 34-year-old designated hitter, who returned from the disabled list on Monday to bat fifth in the Yankees’ 14-4 win over Philadelphia at Citizens Bank Park.
“I thought G had a really good at-bat,” manager Aaron Boone said after Stanton went hitless with just one walk. “We weren’t able to get the results, but the first batter he got back was Zack Wheeler in right field, which is a pretty tough batting order. I thought his swing decisions were good all night. He just missed a couple pitches and worked his way through the count. It was good to see him like that. He’s been doing well.”
The Yankees need Stanton to continue playing at his pre-injury level and bolster the middle of their lineup, which was sorely lacking during his five-week absence, but that’s easier said than done considering he’s come back from leg injuries the past two years.
Stanton was a key threat in the lineup, batting .246 with a .795 OPS and 18 home runs in 69 games before he was injured while running the bases on June 22. Without him, the team went 10-18, with most of the lineup outside of Aaron Judge and Juan Soto struggling and little defense to hit behind them.
The Yankees did not send Stanton to any rehab before his return, instead having him take batting practice last week using a high-velocity pitching machine and a Trajector (which simulates a major league pitcher).
He was expected to be on the bench on Tuesday, start again on Wednesday and potentially play the full game after that.
“I think early last week he had his eye on this series,” Boone said. “He knows his body really well and he’s really mindful of it, but I think it was really important for him to just get the volume and the load that he wanted to put on himself over and over again to feel like he was back. I think early last week he started to feel like, ‘OK, I’ve come this far, but I need a little more endurance. I’ve got to hit, hit, hit, run, run, sit and do it again.’ He was talking about stacking days, and hopefully stacking that volume will help him endurance-wise.”
Boone said the process wasn’t much different than how Stanton returned from leg injuries the past two years, but taking the extra week to be fully prepared seemed like a more cautious approach to ensure he had a chance to be a more consistent performer upon his return.
After missing six weeks with a hamstring injury in 2023, he didn’t seem to reach his full potential at the plate, batting just .179 with a .670 OPS over the remaining 88 games of the season.
Then in 2022, he started strong again before landing on injured reserve with a calf injury.
After his return, he batted just .167 with a .748 OPS in 40 games before landing on the disabled list again with Achilles tendinitis, then batted .165 with a .633 OPS in 30 games after his return.
“He knows his way around a lot,” Boone said. “He’s older, he’s more experienced, he’s evolved, he’s been there before, so he knows a little bit about how he wants to get there, but even in past situations, I’d say he understands it better than a lot of people.”
One of the reasons the Yankees didn’t send Stanton to rehab was the fact that he was a designated hitter and wouldn’t play defense.
But Boone said he’s been running the bases “a lot” over the past week.
“From his standpoint, it’s just part of his mindset to make sure he’s practiced enough, done enough volume and is able to handle it,” Boone said. “It’s one thing coming off an injury and being ‘I’m ready,’ but it’s another thing to build up that endurance bit by bit. That’s why this past week was so important for him.”
