Giancarlo Stanton was having the redemption season of a lifetime. He was healthy, hitting the cover off the ball and finally beloved by Yankees fans.
The Yankees were hoping that Giancarlo Stanton would play in more than 150 games for the first time since he played in 158 during his first campaign with the Bronx Bombers in 2018. He hit 38 homers and drove in 100 runs that season, but only played in 41 games over the following two seasons due to injuries.
Stanton quickly became public enemy No.1 in New York as the fans looked for someone to blame for its playoff shortcomings. Aaron Judge also battled injuries during Stanton’s first few years as a Yankee, but he’s the home grown darling, so he rarely if ever felt the wrath of Yankees fans in the same venomous fashion that Stanton did.
Last season, we got a glimpse of how potent Judge and Stanton could be when consistently in the Yankees lineup, as Stanton was able to play 139 games. It was Judge who was limited to 100 games and unable to be there enough for them to wreak the kind of havoc they did this season, before Stanton went on his yearly IL stint.
Stanton has only played in 100 games once in the past four seasons, so when both players got off to blazing first-half stars, were starters in the All-Star Game and among league leaders in most valued offensive categories, it wasn’t a surprise that the Yankees were winning at an all-time rate.
Judge has continued his MVP Bro bombing, while Stanton is expected to resume baseball activities early this week for the first time since landing on the injured last with left Achilles tendinitis on July 26.
“I would say probably in the next couple days he’ll start, whether it’s throwing and probably doing some tee work and upper body, hitting and stuff like that,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said in the New York Post. “Just talking to him briefly (Saturday), he’s definitely encouraged by the last few days…he’s noticed improvement and I think (they) have moved the needle how we would have hoped. Hopefully that starters to pick up speed this week.,”
Despite missing some time, Stanton is still 8th in homers and 19th in RBI (61) in all of MLB. This injury doesn’t seem too serious, but it is something that could linger throughout the season.
Achilles injuries are serious so Stanton will have to show some caution when it comes to finally going full speed. Losing him for the playoff run would be a death wish for the Yankees who are talented, but still fragile in that the team can’t afford to lose Judge or Stanton for any significant amount of time and still hope to capture their first World Series title since 2009.
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