The New York Yankees have been bitten harder by the injury bug than any other MLB team in spring training, and it isn't particularly close. Their rotation, which was seen as the team's biggest strength, is now a mess, with Gerrit Cole out for the season, Luis Gil set to miss several months, and Clarke Schmidt dealing with minor injuries of his own. It's gotten so bad to the point where Carlos Carrasco cracking the team's Opening Day rotation feels like a lock at this point.
To make matters worse, New York's lineup has been impacted in a big way as well. DJ LeMahieu was probably the favorite to open the season as New York's third baseman, but a calf injury will cause him to begin the year on the IL. Additionally, Giancarlo Stanton, arguably the team's second-most dangerous hitter with Juan Soto gone, is dealing with injuries to both of his elbows and will begin the year on the IL. There is no timetable for his return.
Stanton getting injured is far from shocking, but both of his elbows? How exactly does that happen? Well, there's a theory going around according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post ($), and it's a doozy.
"It seems a bat switch was recommended to Stanton last year. The recommender is no longer around the Yankees," Heyman wrote.
Yes, you read that right. Stanton switched his bat last year due to a recommendation from a Yankees employee, and the Yankees believe that is what caused his elbow troubles. The individual who recommended the bat switch is no longer with the organization. Huh?
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Giancarlo Stanton's latest injury update is tough to fathom
What's ironic about this theory is that the bat switch seemed to really work for the Yankees slugger. Stanton had the worst season of his 15-year MLB career in 2023, slashing .191/.275/.420 with 24 home runs and 60 RBI in 101 games of action. Obviously, Stanton hit for his usual tremendous power, but he also hit under .200. It was so bad to the point where he was worth -0.8 bWAR, which is tough to do as a DH when you hit 24 home runs in just 101 games.
The 2024 campaign, though, saw Stanton completely flip a switch. The 35-year-old slashed .233/.298/.475 with 27 home runs and 72 RBI in 114 games during the regular season, raising his OPS by nearly 100 points in the process. In the postseason, he took his game to another level, slashing .273/.339/.709 with seven home runs and 16 RBI in 14 games. He hit seven home runs in just 55 postseason at-bats, and it felt as if all seven of those were just enormous blasts both in terms of how timely they were and how far they went. Of course, he had his monster postseason despite dealing with the same elbow pain he has now.
The fact that Stanton was able to completely flip his career around at 35 years of age with a bat switch being all that was different suggests that the change was a good thing, but yet, the Yankees think it's actually what hurt him?
It's hard to know what to believe, at this point. Stanton has been incredibly injury-prone throughout his Yankees tenure, and the Yankees, in particular, have had trouble avoiding injuries in recent years. While the bat switch might've been the reason, it certainly feels as if the Yankees are simply trying to cover for themselves and their star by saying a random anonymous person who is no longer with the organization caused this nightmarish situation.