New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton will not be in the lineup on Opening Day against the Milwaukee Brewers, or any time soon, but a new report indicates that there is optimism for his return to the lineup at some point this season, despite some of the dire wording regarding the elbow injuries throughout the spring.

“I don't know about secretive. I am told that Stanton responded well to the PRP shots and should be back to contribute before too terribly long,” Andy Martino of SNY said. “There is no exact timetable, but it does not sound nearly as dire as, well, Stanton made it sound when he called the injury ‘severe.'”

It is encouraging that Stanton has responded well to the PRP injections. Ahead of the Yankees' first game, manager Aaron Boone said that Stanton has begun swinging, according to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic. There is still no timetable for a return, but that is certainly an encouraging step.

At one point, it was reported that Memorial Day was an optimistic return date for Stanton, and that would be a good development for the Yankees this summer. According to Martino, the Yankees internally are more optimistic about Stanton's eventual return than those outside the organization.

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“Yankee officials were not as alarmed as fans by Stanton's choice of words,” Martino said. “The organization has long known Stanton as a player who does not sugarcoat injuries or provide overly optimistic prognoses. He'll be out a while, don't get me wrong. But the expectation is that he'll be back with more than enough time to provide his typical late-season and October heroics.”

In the meantime, someone like Ben Rice will take up much of the at-bats at the designated hitter spot, with Aaron Judge potentially getting some time there as well.

Stanton is one of the Yankees' three significant injuries entering the season. Gerrit Cole is out for the year, while Luis Gil will be out for months. New York will have to stay afloat into the summer months and hopefully get some reinforcements then.