Giancarlo Stanton ready to debut with the Yankees
New York Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton is scheduled to come off the injured list on Monday and make his season debut against the Los Angeles Angels, according to sources close to the team. This gives the club a great variety of options in their lineup with 70 games left in the season. Stanton was sidelined until Sunday due to tendon injuries in both elbows. He played through joint pain in 2024, including during the postseason, where he hit seven home runs in 14 games, but was prohibited from batting in January until the end of March. He was eligible to be reinstated from the 60-day injured list at the end of May, but the Yankees, with no desperate need for offense and multiple options for the designated hitter position, did not rush him. Instead, Stanton, 35, began a rehabilitation assignment last week, participating in three games for Double-A Somerset after an extended period of batting practice in machines and live batting practice sessions. He hit .3 of 11 with a double, four RBIs, a walk and three strikeouts for Somerset.Meanwhile, the Yankees’ offense has thrived without the experienced hitter who leads all active players with 429 career home runs. The team ranks second in the majors with a wRC+ of 123 and an OPS of .794, with Ben Rice, Aaron Judge, and Jasson Dominguez primarily rotating through the designated hitter spot.
Here’s where things get complicated for the Yankees. Stanton’s return, as things stand, will present a daily lineup puzzle for manager Aaron Boone to solve, not only at the designated hitter position, but also in the outfield, where he has Judge plus three players (Dominguez, Cody Bellinger, and Trent Grishman) for two positions (center and left field).Last week, Boone told reporters that Rice could start games at catcher to alleviate the logjam and get his bat in the lineup more often. Rice, 26, was drafted as a catcher and spent most of his minor league career behind the plate, but has yet to make a start at catcher for the Yankees since making his major league debut last season. Rice has accumulated just 6⅔ innings behind the plate in the majors.
Austin Wells and J.C. Escarra have so far split the starts at catcher, with Wells starting 52 of the team’s 70 games behind the plate. SNY was the first to report the news of Stanton’s activation.
