The New York Yankees made it back to the World Series last season, ultimately losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers. With the news coming out of spring training, their journey to defend the American League pennant will be more difficult. Earlier this week, the team announced that star slugger Giancarlo Stanton would begin the year on the Injured List because of an elbow injury. As more information has come out, there is a real possibility that Stanton could miss the entire 2025 season.
New York Yankees Giancarlo Stanton Injury Update
This issue isn’t new for Stanton. He revealed he played through elbow soreness last year, hoping it would get better over the offseason. It apparently did not, and it started to bother him before spring training. The former Miami Marlin revealed he had not swung a bat in over a month. The New York Yankees decided to send him back home for more tests. General manager Brian Cashman spoke about the injury in a recent press conference.
“The complaints didn’t come up until right before camp. Ultimately, he was dealing with it at the end of last year and obviously thought we were in a good place. I think he was feeling like we were in a good place, but then it reared its ugly head about three weeks before camp, is my understanding. So now we’re dealing with it. We’ll give it the time it needs. We clearly look forward to getting him back at some point, but obviously in the near term, that won’t be the case.”
The team hasn’t indicated a timeline, but teammate Aaron Judge made an interesting comment about the situation. The MVP said he “wants a healthy G in the middle of the season.” Does this indicate the New York Yankees won’t see Stanton on the field until the middle of the season? Obviously, Judge is not a doctor, but it is a comment that has raised many eyebrows. The team has said surgery is a last resort, but if it comes to that, he would likely miss the entire season.
Not The Only Injury
Ace Gerrit Cole is also dealing with some elbow soreness. He missed the beginning of last year due to an elbow issue and may be at risk of it happening again. During a spring training start on Thursday against the Minnesota Twins, he was tagged for six runs and five hits in less than three innings. “Something wasn’t right,” Cole said on Saturday. He had imaging on his elbow and is now waiting for a second opinion.
He and the team are remaining hopeful, but as of this moment, there are so many questions. The New York Yankees are at risk of two of their best players starting the season on the Injured List with no clear timetable on a return. The American League, and especially the American League East, is loaded with good teams. While baseball is a long season, teams can fall behind quickly and have to work extra hard to close the gap. The Yankees would rather not have this happen.
Final Thoughts
The good news is that the Yankees still have plenty of talent on the roster. Every team will have to deal with injuries at some point in the season. The team proved last year that they can overcome them and still make the World Series. Can they win the American League again in 2025?
