If there’s any positive we can extract from the MLB shutting down operations for the foreseeable future, it’s additional time New York Yankees players will have to return to full health. Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton are two sluggers that have both fallen ill with the injury bug as of late — Judge dealing with a stress fracture in a rib and Stanton nursing a calf strain.
Stanton, though, has been extremely injury prone ever since joining the Yankees in the AL East, missing all of 2019 with a bevy of different ailments. He stepped up to the plate just 52 times, missing out on a season destined for greatness based on the heroics from the reserve options. Gio Urshela, Mike Tauchman, Mike Ford, Cameron Maybin, the list goes on.
The Yankees missing Stanton didn’t seem to be much of a problem for a motivated group led by Aaron Boone, but that doesn’t mean his home run efficiency wasn’t missed.
How long are the New York Yankees projecting Stanton to be out for?
General manager Brian Cashman stated that he believes Stanton could be out of the lineup until April, which doesn’t seem like the consequences of a grade 1 calf strain (7-10 day recovery). Missing one month with a simple strain is either a coverup for a more significant injury or something more mysterious.
However, the Bombers expect both Judge and Stanton to return around the same time, and with the MLB preparing to push forward into April with the expectations that operations will still be shut down, it seems like both could be available for the start of the regular season.
Overall, the prolonging of Opening Day helps the two sluggers and starting pitcher James Paxton focus on recovering and returning in a timely matter. Hopefully, all three can return without missing ample regular-season games.