Giancarlo Stanton hasn’t played since June 22 due to a left hamstring strain and the slugger said at the time of his 10-day IL placement that he figured to be out for around four weeks. That timeline look to be pretty accurate, as Yankees manager Aaron Boone told MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch and other reporters that Stanton is “really close” to being activated from the injured list.
While Stanton won’t be ready on Friday for the Yankees’ first game of the second half, Boone said Stanton’s return isn’t expected to last much beyond that point and that the veteran slugger might not even require a minor league rehab assignment. Considering how injuries have often wrecked havoc on Stanton’s career, missing “only” a month counts as a relatively good outcome for the former NL MVP. Leg and hamstring injuries in particular have plagued Stanton and (as Hoch notes) this is the eighth time Stanton has visited the injured list during his six seasons in a Yankees uniform.
These injuries started to impact Stanton’s production in 2022-23, but he got off to a nice start this year, hitting .246/.302/.
492 with 18 homers in 281 plate appearances. Usually hitting either fifth in the lineup or as the cleanup hitter behind Juan Soto and Aaron Judge, Stanton provided some pop to a New York batting order that has been lacking in consistency apart from those two superstars. In the 19 games since Stanton hit the IL, the Yankees have gone 6-13, entering the All-Star break a game behind t.
