Giancarlo Stanton had herculean 2018 season with the New York Yankees. He played in 158 games that year, filling the void of many injured players throughout the season.
Come 2019, he’d have trouble staying healthy, and that carried over into 2020. Stanton would play in just 41 regular season games over the two seasons, seeing three lengthy IL stints.
After the 2020 season, the Yankees announced that Stanton will become the regular DH in the 2021 season. They made the move because of the number of great hitters the team has, but more importantly to keep him healthy. When Stanton’s healthy, he’s arguably one of the best hitters in baseball. But the question is, will the switch work?
The injury plague
Something that Yankee fans have known too well over the past few seasons is the injury plague, where seemingly every player goes on the IL. The plan is to keep Stanton at DH as much as possible, but if injuries take over the Yankee outfield, he may be forced to play defense.
And that’s what leads to a lot of his injuries. Most of his IL stints are the result of when Stanton’s playing the field a lot, wearing down his body and leading to muscle strains and sprains. The rest of the team staying healthy helps keep Stanton healthy.
A new training staff
Prior to the 2020 season, we saw the Yankees implement a new training staff. Unfortunately, the 2020 season saw a lot of injuries, but some can be attested to the short season and the new staff getting adjusted.
From what we’ve heard, the training staff has continued to work with Stanton and other power hitters to keep them both strong and healthy. They are doing all they can to keep Stanton and other Yankees off the IL.
Losing Giancarlo Stanton to the IL is always a difficult blow. But hopefully, with his switch to DH in 2021, it will help keep him healthy for a big season.