New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton was off to a hot start to the 2023 season, but it quickly was derailed by yet another injury for the 33-year-old last week.
A Grade 2 hamstring strain was revealed after an MRI over the weekend, which will keep the Los Angeles, CA native out of the Yankees lineup for the next 4-6 weeks. Stanton spoke about his frustration on Thursday.
“It's unacceptable, this often, right now,” he said, according to ESPN's Marly Rivera. “The team relies on me. I can't have this continue to happen and put us in a really tough spot.”
It's hard to blame Stanton for the injury, but it certainly is a tough pill to swallow for the entire organization after he's struggled to stay healthy over the past few campaigns.
The hamstring strain is the latest injury that has plagued Stanton throughout his career; all of his Yankees injuries have been leg-related, including hamstring, quadriceps, knee and Achilles injuries.
Stanton was placed on the 10-day injured list by the team on Saturday, with initial expectations being around the 4-to-6 week mark, and manager Aaron Boone said the team is already bracing for it to be towards the longer end of that timeline.
The team obviously won't want to rush the veteran back, so it does seem likely he will miss over a month of the season, if not more. Stanton suffered the injury while legging out a seventh-inning double against the Minnesota Twins last week.
While Giancarlo Stanton is on the shelf, Josh Donaldson could receive the bulk of the opportunities at designated hitter after he returns from a hamstring injury of his own within the next week.
The Yankees have won six of their past 10 games and currently sit in a tie for second place with an 11-7 record in the AL East.