While the New York Yankees traveled the west coast last week, slugger Giancarlo Stanton spent his time in California rehabbing from a shoulder issue that accompanied a bicep injury.
Giancarlo Stanton (biceps/shoulder) said he saw a specialist out in California. He will attempt to swing a bat again tomorrow. “No major update for you guys. I’m going to ramp it up and see how it goes.”
— Bryan Hoch ?? (@BryanHoch) May 7, 2019
Stanton was forced out on April 1st initially, and he has been unable to swing a bat ever since. Over a month later, he’s just now preparing to ramp up his baseball activity – he was scheduled to hit off a tee on Tuesday.
Late Monday night Stanton said the plan was to “ramp it up and see how it goes.’’
It will likely take some time for the outfielder to get back to a comfortable level at the plate, as he relies heavily on his arm strength for power.
The New York Yankees have survived without him:
Despite Stanton’s absence, the Yanks have been on a tear as of late. Most recently, the team came back from a 4-2 deficit to beat the Seattle Mariners 5-4 in a three-run 9th inning rally. The return of Clint Frazier wasn’t as electric as most hoped considering his two costly mistakes in the outfield and 1-4 hitting performance. However, Gio Urshela saved the day with a game-tying 2-run homer in the 9th inning.
The one unit on the team that has struggled has been the outfield. Luckily, reserve options Cameron Maybin and Frazier have picked up the slack offensively. Maybin scored from second on a DJ LeMahieu single to win the game on Tuesday night after a short rain delay.
While the Bombers have scraped by, there’s no official timetable for Stanton to return. I anticipate it will be at least three weeks before we have an estimated return.
In other injury news — Dellin Betances, Didi Gregorius, and Aaron Judge are all taking baby-steps in their individual rehab plans.
Betances has started a throwing program and expects to work his way up into pitching form slowly. It will likely take until after the All-Star break for the relief pitcher to make a return.