Amid Aaron Judge's unreal exploits carrying the New York Yankees to the early division lead, the rest of the lineup looks direly like it needs reinforcements. The hope, of course, is that Giancarlo Stanton will be able to return from the elbow injury that landed him on the 60-day IL by the end of May. While the Yankees are maintaining that's still possible, Stanton doesn't sound (or look) too confident in that, based on his most recent comments.
Stanton, who won't have a long rehab as he only looks to return to a DH role with no need for reps in the field, has started facing live pitching again and even took batting practice on Wednesday ahead of the Yankees' series finale against the Padres. When he was asked about his elbow, though, what he told Greg Joyce of the New York Post didn't sound like a guy feeling great about his health.
"I don’t want to keep talking about this, because I’ve been over and over it," Stanton said. "If I’m out there, I’m good enough to play. There’s no levels of anything else."
While that could be taken as a guy who is simply tired of talking about the injury and just ready to get back on the field, it's hard to take his comments about "levels" seriously given how substantial his elbow injuries have seemed. It's even harder to consider when you look at how he was swinging in that batting practice session.
Giancarlo Stanton doesn't look or sound like he's ready to actually help the Yankees
The Yankees are, admittedly, in an unforgivable position right now when it comes to Stanton. Given that only four players on the roster have an OPS over .735 this season, they desperately need more depth and quality hitting in the lineup. We know that Stanton can provide that with his prodigious power that should shore up the DH spot when he does return.
At the same time, he doesn't look like or sound like he's close. Those batting practice swings are easy cuts that almost look like just trying to get a feel of some sort back. That could be, in part, due to facing live pitching the day before. Of course, if it's fatigue of some sort from the day before, that doesn't inspire much confidence with where he's at with the injury either.
When you take all of the evidence into account with his quotes, we're then looking at a player who doesn't look close and is trying to work to get back, so much so that he's tired of being asked about the injury. Moreover, he's also not putting a timeline on when he could be back, which is why he's saying that he'll be out there when he's healthy.
That's not a good situation, but it's also one that the Yankees should be careful and patient with. Even with the inconsistency of the lineup and even with the team showing some warts, they still hold a two-game cushion atop the AL East. Rushing Stanton and either watching him be ineffective or, even worse, get hurt again isn't going to help New York separate.
Every Yankees fan knows that getting Stanton back in the lineup as a missing piece. However, if he's looking like a player who can't actually help the team because of his health, which seems to be the case, there's no reason to force him back before he's ready.