Yankees Notebook: Giancarlo Stanton in ‘disbelief’ over latest ‘unacceptable’ injury
Giancarlo Stanton said his left hamstring felt better Thursday, but the Yankees slugger is taking his latest injury hard.
Stanton, who suffered a Grade 2 strain Saturday while legging out a double, said the hammy is “improving every day, but it’s a slow process.” Aaron Boone hopes to have the designated hitter/outfielder back in six weeks, though Stanton didn’t offer a timeline when asked if he had the same target in mind.
“I’m gonna be back as soon as possible,” he said.
Stanton added that he felt tightness and grabbing in his hamstring — “It’s not a normal feeling, or a fun one” — and he immediately knew the injury would sideline him for a few weeks. He didn’t want to “confront that right away,” as soft tissue injuries have hindered him throughout his Yankees career.
“The disbelief and disappointment at this stage is hard to put into words,” Stanton said. “It’s very frustrating.”
He then seemed to blame himself for the time he’s missed.
“It’s unacceptable,” Stanton said, referring to the frequency of his soft tissue injuries. “The team relies on me, and I can’t have this continue to happen and put us in a spot that we weren’t prepared for. There’s guys who fill the roles; they’ll do just fine. But at the same time, that’s my duty and responsibility to be out there.
“I mean, I can’t control it, but at the same time, it shouldn’t be happening. It’s not like, ‘Hey, it’ll be okay later.’ I’ve prepared my whole life. This is everything I put in for, so it’s very disappointing and frustrating. You want to keep a positive outlook, which I have, but at the same time, it’s just so unbelievable.”
Informed of Stanton’s self-criticism, Boone pushed back on a player who’s hurting in multiple ways.
“The one thing I can say in Giancarlo’s case is I don’t question his professionalism and his commitment to doing all he needs to do to stay healthy and to be healthy,” Boone said. “Giancarlo feels that responsibility to this team and this organization to be the great player that he is, but to be able to do it more and more often. So there’s that disappointment and frustration and he feels bad for us, but I don’t say ‘unacceptable’ because I know the person and what he goes through and how he prepares.
“Sports are hard and you get hurt sometimes. As long as you’re doing everything possible to put yourself in the best position to be healthy, then it is acceptable, and we’ll do the best we can to get him right, get him back out there and get him impacting us like we know we can.”
Stanton said that he needs to make “little alterations” when it comes to his approach for avoiding such injuries. In the meantime, he said it’s important for him to keep his body moving. He’s still able to do strengthening exercises despite shutting down from baseball activities.
The 33-year-old was off to a hot start this season, tallying four home runs and 11 RBI over his first 13 games. Now the Yankees will be without him for some time.
“It’s frustrating,” Stanton repeated. “I was in the peak of midseason form, and now I’m back to square one. Walking freakin’ three feet at a time to get back to the motions that I need to go out to play.”
THE LATEST ON RODON
Less than 24 hours after Boone said tests on Carlos Rodon’s back were “pretty normal,” the manager revealed that the southpaw won’t throw for a few days. Rodon is also going to get a CT scan.
Boone still referred to the issue as a “nagging” one Thursday, but the lefty’s timeline has been delayed again after he originally hit the shelf with a forearm strain early in spring training.
SEVERINO VS BADER
In more encouraging injury news, Luis Severino (lat) faced Harrison Bader (oblique) in live batting practice on Thursday morning. A break did occur during the matchup, but only to one of Bader’s bats.
“Sometimes, I’m too nasty,” Severino said with a laugh.
Severino threw 35 total pitches between one inning of live work and the bullpen. He’ll see how he feels Friday, but Severino hopes the plan is for him to head to Tampa and throw another live session there before starting a rehab assignment.
“They’ll build him up incrementally,” Boone said, unsure of many more live sessions or rehab games the right-hander will need.
The plan is for Bader to begin his own rehab assignment with Double-A Somerset on Friday.
GOLD GLOVE JUDGE
Aaron Judge quietly admitted that winning a Gold Glove is a personal goal of his after he made two pivotal catches in the Yankees’ win over the Angels Wednesday, but he quickly made it clear that winning a World Series is at the top of his to-do list.
“It’s one of the reasons he’s great,” Boone said of the outfielder’s defense. “He takes pride in every little thing in this game. Not that the defensive side’s a little thing. Before I knew him, I know that’s how he was in the minor leagues, how much he poured into the details of defense.”
YANKS SIGN ANOTHER CALHOUN
The Yankees signed Kole Calhoun to a minor league contract on Thursday.
The 35-year-old, lefty-swinging corner outfielder will report to the Florida Complex League Yankees after spending training with the Mariners and playing for the Rangers last year. An 11-year veteran who’s spent most of his career with the Angels, Calhoun hit 33 home runs in 2019, but he has just as many in 230 games since then.
His numbers weren’t good last year (.196/.257/.330, 12 HR, 49 RBI, 67 OPS+), but Baseball Savant still had Calhoun well-rated for Average Exit Velocity and Hard-Hit%.
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