The New York Yankees announced that Giancarlo Stanton will begin the 2025 season on the injured list due to tennis elbow in both of his elbows. He received PRP injections while dealing with a personal matter in New York City, which was separate from the injury Stanton sustained to his elbows.
He is expected to join the team in Tampa sometime this week, although his clearance on baseball activities and a timeline for his return from the IL remains to be seen. If it’s a short-term issue, the Yankees may not be inclined to add someone like J.D. Martinez to fill out the DH position full-time, but they could still look for a right-handed hitter who can rotate into and out of the lineup to pair with someone like Ben Rice.
Giancarlo Stanton Receives PRP Shots, Yankees Start Him on the IL
After a dominant playoff run where Giancarlo Stanton helped guide the Yankees to their first pennant since 2009, the star DH will find himself on the IL to start the season. It will mark the seventh-straight season where he opens the year on the IL, but the use of PRP injections instead of surgery is a positive sign for the diagnosis. The team is describing his injury as having tennis elbows, but Stanton mentioned having this pain during the 2024 postseason as well.
Elbow injuries can cause pain that disrupt a hitter, but the overall severity of a UCL injury for a DH is something that can be overstated due to how catastrophic it is for pitchers. While a UCL is needed to throw the ball, Stanton does not play field nor is he expected to take on a larger share of outfield reps this season. The Yankees will also get their slugger back in Tampa this upcoming week, where they’ll begin the road to recovery.
In the meantime, the Yankees will have to find a way to get production at DH without Stanton, and one popular internal candidate could be Ben Rice.
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After launching a 113.3 MPH home run in today’s Spring Training game against the Astros, Ben Rice has continued to impress early on in camp. His improved game power could be a result of some added muscle, as the left-handed hitter is someone the Yankees have held in high regard internally. Before Giancarlo Stanton went down with injury, the Yankees were considering Rice among their group of backup catchers, but his role could change with the DH spot open.
The timeline for a return is still up in the air for Giancarlo Stanton, but as mentioned earlier, the use of PRP injections will allow the Yankees to monitor how he recovers. If the pain subsides, the Yankees can then progress him into baseball activities, where he will build up and get ready for the 2025 season. The offense will miss his right-handed power while he’s gone, and there should be some pressure internally to add some righties in the infield and on the bench to play against LHP.