The New York Yankees have been plagued by the injury bug this offseason, conveniently right before the start of spring training, therefor allowing reserve options and prospects to gain more playing time. This is helpful in evaluating the talent already on the team and what they have in the minor leagues, but if Opening Day were to start on March 26 as planned, they would be thin in the outfield.
The projected starters in the outfield were Brett Gardner, Clint Frazier, and Mike Tauchman before the MLB suspended operations for a minimum of eight weeks. During that time, injured players like Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and James Paxton have progressed through their recovery programs to hopefully be available for the start of the regular season down the line.
On Monday, Yankees skipper Aaron Boone unveiled some positive news in the midst of a global pandemic.
Giancarlo Stanton update from Aaron Boone, via @M_Marakovits and @YESNetwork: "If we were to start Spring Training games up tomorrow, he’d probably be ready to go."
— Bryan Hoch ?? (@BryanHoch) March 23, 2020
Stanton would be ready to play in Spring Training games if the season was still proceeding normally, which would indicate his readiness for the regular season.
The slugger’s grade 1 calf strain has taken a bit longer to heal than necessary, but when workouts and drills ramp up, we will have to see how he responds to the increase in activity. Stanton has picked up a number of injuries over the last 1 1/2 years, and those could continue into the mid-portion of 2020 if he’s not careful.
The former Marlin is coming off a season where he enjoyed just 72 at-bats and played in five more games sparingly during the post-season. His 2017 slash line of .266/.343/.509Â seems like a distant memory at this point. The Yankees desperately need him to return to his former self and crank homers at an unreasonable rate. However, the next few weeks should allow him to heal appropriately and return with a full bill of health.