Accidents to Stanton, Gil, and LeMahieu Will Check the Yankees

A cynic would say that Giancarlo Stanton is in midseason type. On Saturday, the Yankees formally introduced that the 35-year-old slugger will open the season on the injured record because of recurring points with each elbows. He’s not the one distinguished Yankee who’s out of the image — or at the least uncertain — for the Opening Day roster, as Luis Gil might be sidelined for a great chunk of the season because of a strained latissimus dorsi, and DJ LeMahieu has suffered an obvious left calf pressure, with its severity and prognosis to be decided by an MRI on Tuesday.

Essentially the most notable damage, if not essentially the most impactful one, is Stanton’s. Two weeks in the past, simply earlier than the staff’s first full-squad exercise, supervisor Aaron Boone mentioned that the slugger was “coping with some elbow stuff… akin to tennis elbow” in each arms, including that it was a difficulty he handled final yr as properly. Tennis elbow, formally often known as lateral epicondylitis, is a situation attributable to overuse of the muscle tissue and tendons within the elbow, significantly by a repetitive twisting of the wrist (suppose swinging a tennis racket… or a bat). The tendons that be part of the forearm muscle tissue on the skin of the elbow undergo microscopic tears and don’t heal absolutely, resulting in irritation and ache. With Stanton having not swung a bat since mid-January because of ache and the danger of exacerbating the issue, and regardless of anti-inflammatory remedy, staff docs have moved on to a extra aggressive strategy. Final week, whereas touring to New York for a personal matter, Stanton obtained platelet-rich plasma injections in each arms in an effort to promote therapeutic.

The injections rule out Stanton for the Yankees’ March 27 opener in opposition to the Brewers in New York. Past that, his timeline is unclear, however assuming a number of weeks of restoration from the PRP photographs, a number of extra to ramp as much as full recreation exercise, a rehab task, and a pair further weeks of padding as a result of Stanton isn’t the world’s quickest healer, the mathematics suggests an April return is unlikely. That mentioned, I wouldn’t suggest parsing Aaron Decide’s phrases — “I desire a wholesome G in the course of the season” — too actually simply but.

Regardless, it is a bummer for Stanton and the Yankees. That is his seventh consecutive season with a visit to the IL, although opposite to the impression created by his litany of accidents, that is the primary time in his 15-year main league profession he’ll open the yr on the shelf.

Final yr, Stanton performed 114 video games, his highest complete since 2021, and hit .233/.298/.475 with 27 homers, a 116 wRC+, and 0.8 WAR — modest numbers that nonetheless represented a 30-point, 1.4-WAR enchancment over his depressing ’23 marketing campaign. He shook himself out of a second-half hunch to hit a ridiculous .273/.339/.709 (183 wRC+) with seven homers in 62 postseason plate look. He earned ALCS MVP honors for hitting .222/.333/.889 with 4 homers and 7 RBI in 5 video games in opposition to the Guardians, and was the one Yankee to hit a number of homers throughout their World Collection loss to the Dodgers.

Stanton didn’t play the outfield in any respect in 2024 after doing so 38 occasions in ’22 and 33 occasions in ’23. Changing him as a full-time DH may get Decide (who DHed 41 occasions final yr) or 37-year-old first baseman Paul Goldschmidt off their toes with out the extra fretting about benching an out there and potent Stanton. As an alternative of an outfield with Jasson Domínguez in left discipline, Cody Bellinger in heart, and Decide in proper, the Yankees may DH Decide whereas taking part in the defensively adept Trent Grisham in heart and Bellinger in proper, although Grisham’s 2024 manufacturing (.190/.290/.385, 91 wRC+) was a number of rungs under Stanton’s degree.

The most definitely beneficiary of Stanton’s absence isn’t Grisham however Ben Rice, a 26-year-old lefty who spent a great chunk of final summer time filling in for the injured Anthony Rizzo at first base. Although he tore up Double- and Triple-A earlier than getting off to a promising begin that included a three-homer recreation in opposition to the Crimson Sox on July 6, Rice hit simply .171/.264/.349 (73 wRC+) with seven homers in 178 PA. If he fails to persuade the Yankees to convey him north, the most definitely alternative from inside is 29-year-old non-roster invitee Dominic Smith, a former High 100 prospect who hit .233/.313/.378 (93 wRC+) in 307 PA final yr with the Crimson Sox and Reds, and who owns a equally subpar 96 wRC+ and -0.1 WAR for his profession.

Right here’s a peek on the Yankees’ DH Depth Chart, the place they rank twelfth based mostly on an estimate of Stanton approximating his taking part in time from the previous two seasons:

If Stanton’s damage seems to be critical sufficient for the Yankees to look exterior the group, the free agent market affords an apparent answer in J.D. Martinez. He’s 37, even older than Stanton or LeMahieu, and coming off a mediocre season with the Mets. After signing in late March and debuting in late April, he hit simply .235/.320/.406 (108 wRC+) with 16 homers in 495 PA as a full-time DH. He did bash 33 homers and hit for a 135 wRC+ in simply 113 video games with the Dodgers in 2023, and possibly deserved higher final yr based mostly on his Statcast numbers. Most notably, his 66-point hole between his slugging share and .472 xSLG tied Salvador Perez for the second-largest within the majors behind Soto’s 77-point hole, and his 73-mph common bat velocity held regular from the second half of 2023 to ’24 based mostly on not too long ago launched knowledge.

As for the 36-year-old LeMahieu, he tweaked his left calf whereas operating out a popup within the fourth inning of Saturday’s Grapefruit League recreation in opposition to the Astros. YES Community’s Meredith Marakovits reported that he’s scheduled for an MRI, including, “He mentioned his calf continues to be fairly sore at present however hopeful it’s a low grade pressure.”

LeMahieu is meant to be within the combine for enjoying time each at DH and third base, at the least if he can present that he’s one thing greater than the desiccated stays of a two-time batting champion. A low-grade pressure would possibly solely sideline him for a few weeks, however he’s bought work to do to rebound from a depressing 2024 season bookended by substantial stints on the IL. In March, he fouled a ball off his proper foot, struggling a non-displaced fracture that delayed his debut till Could 28. He hit a skinny .204/.269/.259 (52 wRC+) — that’s 5 doubles and two homers — in 228 PA earlier than an impingement in his proper hip sidelined him for the season in early September. He hasn’t performed a postseason recreation since 2020; he was on the bench for the 2021 AL Wild Card recreation and was sidelined by a toe damage on his proper foot in ’22 as properly.

With Gleyber Torres‘ departure, Jazz Chisholm Jr. has shifted from third base to second, leaving LeMahieu, Oswaldo Cabrera, Oswald Peraza, Pablo Reyes, and Jorbit Vivas competing for time at third. Not solely is LeMahieu down, however Vivas, a 23-year-old prospect, has been sidelined by a sore proper shoulder to this point. The group ranks simply twenty fourth on our Third Base Depth Charts, with most of that worth coming from strong protection backed by meager offense.

Turning to the rotation, the Yankees could possibly be with out Gil for a lot of the primary half — or longer. The 26-year-old righty, who gained AL Rookie of the 12 months honors final yr, ended his Friday bullpen session after simply 5 pitches and underwent an MRI that confirmed a high-grade proper lat pressure. He’ll be shut down from throwing for at the least six weeks. If additional testing doesn’t reveal further issues, and he doesn’t undergo any further setbacks, he’d want roughly one other six weeks to ramp up, so a best-case situation places his return to the majors across the begin of June.

Alas, that timetable could also be too optimistic given the latest historical past of lat strains amongst Yankees starters, because the membership tends to handle these accidents pretty conservatively. Luis Severino suffered three of them whereas with the Yankees, in 2019, ’22, and ’23. The 2019 one occurred whereas he was rehabbing from a rotator cuff pressure; he was identified with a Grade 2 pressure (gulp) round April 10 and didn’t return till mid-September, making simply three common season begins that season. He missed 10 weeks because of his 2022 lat pressure, after which eight weeks because of his ’23 one; each had been characterised as low-grade strains. Clarke Schmidt, who suffered a high-grade lat pressure final yr, missed about 15 weeks.

Gil was one of many Yankees’ actual vivid spots final yr. After lacking almost all of 2022 and ’23 because of Tommy John surgical procedure, he seized the rotation emptiness created by Gerrit Cole’s early-season absence and posted a 3.50 ERA, a 4.14 FIP, and a 26.8% strikeout fee in 151.2 innings. His sharp workload improve — he threw simply 4 aggressive innings in 2023, in comparison with 163 together with the minors and the main league postseason in ’24 — at all times marked him as one thing of an damage danger going ahead, and, properly, right here we’re.

The lack of Gil nonetheless leaves the Yankees with 5 main league-caliber starters in Cole, Schmidt, Max Fried, Carlos Rodón, and Marcus Stroman, although none of them is bulletproof. Cole was restricted to 17 begins final yr because of nerve irritation and edema in his proper elbow, whereas Schmidt made simply 16 begins because of his lat pressure. Fried made 29 begins for the Braves final yr and Rodón 32 for the Yankees, however every made simply 14 begins because of hamstring and forearm strains in 2023 (plus a blister for Fried). Stroman, who gave the impression to be the odd man out if the opposite 5 pitchers had been wholesome, made 29 begins final yr (and 25 in 2023 with the Cubs) however was the least efficient of the Yankees’ common starters, pitching to a 4.31 ERA and 4.62 FIP in 154.2 innings.

The Yankees spent the winter exploring the opportunity of buying and selling the 33-year-old Stroman, who’s making $18 million this yr and has an $18 million participant possibility for 2026 that vests with 140 innings pitched. Reportedly, they proposed a Stroman-for-Nolan Arenado commerce with the Cardinals, however St. Louis, already awful with contact-oriented starters and heading into an overhaul, wasn’t focused on taking over Stroman’s contract. Even when they had been, Arenado has a full no-trade clause, to not point out $74 million remaining on his contract, although the Cardinals are on the hook for under about $60 million, with the Rockies and deferred cash accounting for the hole. That the Yankees are already about $4 million above the highest Aggressive Steadiness Tax threshold ($301 million) makes them unlikely so as to add Arenado or one other name-brand participant with out subtracting Stroman, even when the third baseman had been to waive his no-trade.

In fact, the lack of Gil compromises the Yankees’ depth, leaving righties Will Warren and Carlos Carrasco as the following males up. The 25-year-old Warren, a 50 FV prospect who positioned sixty fifth on our High 100 record, was torched for a ten.32 ERA in 22.2 innings with the Yankees final yr and posted a 5.91 ERA and 4.63 FIP in 109.2 innings with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, although his sinker/sweeper/changeup/cutter mixture is sufficient to mission him as a fourth starter within the making. Carrasco, a non-roster invitee who will flip 38 on March 21, was knocked round to the tune of a 5.64 ERA and 4.93 FIP in 103.2 innings with the Guardians final yr. JT Brubaker, a 31-year-old righty acquired from the Pirates final March, suffered three damaged ribs final week because of a comebacker; he hasn’t pitched within the majors since 2022 after present process Tommy John surgical procedure the next April.

With out Stanton or a dependable third baseman, the Yankees will head in the direction of Opening Day with vital questions on offense from two spots, and with out Gil, they don’t have a lot of a cushion if further accidents strike the rotation. These losses aren’t sufficient to compromise the Yankees’ place as AL East favorites, however our Playoff Odds mission roughly a six-win hole between them (87.4 wins) and the fifth-place Rays (81.3 wins). They don’t have an enormous margin for error, in order that they’ll should hope these conditions don’t spiral into larger issues.