Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton is likely to return to playing games by the end of next week, but the team hasn’t decided if he needs to go to the minor leagues first to recover from his injury.
Stanton hurt his left hamstring while running the bases on June 22 and had to sit out. This is the eighth time in six years he has been on the injured list.
“I just need to keep having a few more good days,” Stanton said before a 9-1 loss to Tampa Bay on Saturday. “If I have a few good days this week, we’ll decide by the end of next week.”
He has missed 21 games this season and was absent for 266 out of 708 games in the past five seasons (38%).
“It’s all about building up stamina, doing it day after day,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone explained. “He feels really good now, but we need him to get enough practice so he’s fully prepared when he returns. So, it’s all about having consecutive good days.”
Boone wasn’t sure if Stanton would need to play some minor league games first.
“Right now, the level of practice he can do speeds up his recovery,” Boone noted. “Because he doesn’t need to build up the stamina for playing nine innings in the field, there’s some uncertainty.”
Stanton has played in 69 of the Yankees’ first 79 games this season, but only as a designated hitter, and he has a batting average of .246 with 18 home runs and 45 RBIs. New York has won only seven of the 21 games Stanton has missed.
“It’s tough just being out, and even tougher not being able to help the team, especially during a rough patch,” Stanton said.
On Saturday, right-handed pitcher Clarke Schmidt threw in the bullpen for the first time since straining his right lat muscle on May 26. He’s expected to return to the team in late August or early September.
“It’s another positive step for him,” Boone said.
Right-handed pitcher JT Brubaker won’t be able to throw for another three or four weeks after straining a muscle in his side on July 11 while playing for Triple-A Scranton. He was on a rehab assignment after having Tommy John surgery in April 2023.
