The MLB regular season is still a little over one month away, but the New York Yankees have already received frustrating injury news regarding Giancarlo Stanton. The 35-year-old is dealing with tennis elbow in both of his elbows, and is reportedly heading back to New York for further testing. All might be fine, but given Stanton's injury history, it would not be shocking at all to see this injury force the slugger onto the IL once the regular season does begin.
Losing Stanton isn't shocking by any means, but it's a blow that will be fairly tough for New York to recover from, with Juan Soto no longer wearing pinstripes.
A healthy Stanton is probably the second-most feared bat in this Yankees lineup behind Aaron Judge. New York's Stanton-less lineup will need these three players to step up for the team to get off to the start it wants.
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3) The Cody Bellinger trade is going to have to pay dividends quickly
The best hitter that the Yankees brought in to replace Soto is Cody Bellinger, who was acquired in a trade with the Chicago Cubs. While he has undoubtable upside, he's coming off such a down year to the point where the Cubs were desperate to dump him for relatively nothing.
Bellinger wasn't bad, but he slashed .266/.325/.426 with 18 home runs and 78 RBI in 130 games for the Cubs. His 111 OPS+ was nearly 30 points lower than his 139 mark from 2023. Getting to play half the time with the short porch should help the left-handed hitting Bellinger, but that trade is going to have to pay off sooner rather than later.
There's a good chance Bellinger is going to begin the season hitting behind Aaron Judge in the order. He has to hit well enough to drive Judge in when he gets on base, and to force pitchers not to pitch around Judge as they did at times in 2024.
2) Paul Goldschmidt must find a way to give the Yankees lineup more balance
An underdiscussed way in which this Stanton injury would hurt the Yankees if he misses time is that it'd hurt their lineup flexibility. Even with Stanton, their lineup is fairly left-handed heavy. Without Stanton, even more focus is on the left-handed hitters of this lineup.
Judge, a right-handed hitter, is obviously the biggest bat in the lineup, but beyond him, they're awfully left-handed. Bellinger, Jazz Chisholm Jr., and Austin Wells, arguably the next three best hitters behind Judge in a Stanton-less lineup, are all left-handed, and Jasson Dominguez is a switch-hitter who is far better left-handed. The lack of balance means Paul Goldschmidt, a right-handed hitter, must find a way to step up.
Just three seasons ago, Goldschmidt was the MVP of the National League. He had a down year in 2023 immediately after winning the MVP, and then put together the worst year of his career in 2024. The Yankees hope for a rebound, but he happens to be 37 years old.
With Stanton in the mix, Goldschmidt was likely going to get a chance to get his feet wet in the Bronx in or right above the lower third of the order. Now, with Stanton out, Goldschmidt will almost certainly hit right in the middle of the order. In order to keep the lineup balanced, he must find a way to drive in runs.
1) The Yankees can't afford another Aaron Judge slow start without Giancarlo Stanton
Aaron Judge had another absurd year in 2024, leading the AL in home runs, RBI, walks, OBP, OPS, OPS+, and bWAR. That absurd year made his slow start to the year relatively easy to forget.
Judge slashed .174/.308/.337 with three home runs and 11 RBI through his first 23 games of the 2024 campaign. The team still got off to a good start even with Judge struggling, but again, they don't have Soto to lean on anymore. The Yankees can't really afford for Judge to get into a prolonged slump at all this season, especially at a time when Stanton is out.
Judge has a .940 OPS in the month of April over the course of his career, so Yankees fans have reason to believe his rough beginning to 2024 was nothing more than a fluke. Hopefully, that proves to be the case.