Giancarlo Stanton ready to unleash bombs for the Yankees again

The Yankees got some positive injury news on Tuesday with the return of slugger Giancarlo Stanton

Giancarlo Stanton drove in the first runs of the 2020 Major League Baseball season, a 459-foot home run off Max Scherzer on Opening Day. Two days later, he hit a 483-foot homer off Erick Fedde of the Nationals, still the longest home run hit this season and, at 121.3 mph, the hardest-hit ball.

But for the past five weeks, that kind of power has been missing from the New York Yankees lineup. That will change on Tuesday, as the Yankees are preparing to activate Stanton off the IL in time to play the opening game of a three-game series at Yankee Stadium against the Toronto Blue Jays. Stanton will be the Yankees designated hitter and bat in the cleanup spot in the lineup.

Stanton hasn’t played since an Aug. 8 doubleheader in Tampa Bay. Through his first 14 games, he was hitting .293 with three home runs and seven RBI. He then suffered a hamstring strain, landing him on the IL, a spot he’s become all too familiar with the last two years. Stanton has missed the Yankees last 33 games and has played just 32 of the club’s last 209 games dating back to the start of 2019.

Stanton’s return couldn’t come at a better time

He’s not alone on the Yankees injury list, either. His fellow Bronx Bomber, Aaron Judge, has been out since Aug. 26. Without Stanton and Judge in the lineup, the Yankees rank 28th in slugging percentage and 23rd in OPS. They lost 10 of 15 games after losing Judge but have rebounded to win their last five straight, including a four-game sweep of the Orioles this weekend.

Manager Aaron Boone, though, hinted earlier this week that Judge may also return this week. He had some work in the field on Sunday and has been hitting at the Yankees’ alternate site in Scranton.

The Yankees will have to fidget with their lineup now that Stanton and Judge are primed for a return. Clint Frazier was waiting for his chance to play every day and has taken full advantage of it, compiling a .874 OPS in 19 games while filling in for Judge in right field. Boone says he’ll keep Frazier in the lineup even after Judge returns by shifting him to left field, making Stanton the primary DH the rest of the season.

Right-handed pitcher Jonathan Loaisiga and infielder Gio Urshela, out since Sept. 4 with a bone spur in his elbow, are also being activated off the IL. Mike Ford and Miguel Andujar are being sent down to the alternate site.

At 26-21, the Yankees are in third place in the AL East, four games behind the Tampa Bay Rays and a half-game behind the Blue Jays.