BOSTON — Giancarlo Stanton is not here. At one point the Yankees had hoped he would be back in the lineup for this three-game series against the Red Sox at Fenway. Instead, the Yankees slugger is still feeling the tendinitis in his left Achilles a little bit when he gets up in the morning after doing “baseball activities.”
There is no timetable for Stanton’s return, but it is clearly not imminent based on his activities. Stanton has not begun running the bases yet or faced live hitting yet, which means he’s not close to a rehab assignment, which Aaron Boone said he may need.
The Yankees manager explained that despite how slow Stanton’s rehab has felt like it is going, the Yankees are still pleased with the progress.
“Maybe it’s because I threw out the Boston thing, but it’s kind of progressed well, and we feel like he’s doing well,” Boone said before Friday night’s game. “So the biggest thing is kind of not wanting to put that day on it. He’s moving in a pretty good direction ... So the progress may be slow but I feel like it’s been steady.”
Giancarlo Stanton (Nick Wass/AP)
Stanton went on the injured list July 24 and the Yankees said they believed it was a “minor thing,” and they thought it might be less than two weeks on the IL. Stanton has missed 16 games, leaving a big hole in their lineup. The Yankees have gone 6-10.
“That’s a big presence. Not only the production he provides, but I think his presence in the lineup, just one more elite hitter to have to go through and plan for and to wear somebody down so,” Boone said, “of course we’ve missed him.
“I feel like overall over the last several weeks, offensively we still have been putting up runs. We obviously had a couple of rough days. Saturday and Sunday in scoring. But we’re talking about Big G, I mean, you miss him when he’s not in the lineup.”
Stanton is hitting .228/.309/.498 with an .807 OPS and 24 home runs. The Yankees expect him to be 100% when he gets back and that this issue will be gone.
“I expect that when he returns. I expect it to be behind us. And it feels like it’s moving in that direction.”
Luis Severino is finally progressing off flat ground throwing. The right-hander was placed on the injured list July 14 with what the team described as a “low grade” lat strain, but moved to the 60-day IL last week. He will throw his first bullpen since going on the IL on Monday, Boone said.
Severino said he was not happy with the decision and said last week he felt good as he began his throwing program. Yankees GM Brian Cashman explained the decision as needing extra time to build Severino back up to a starter’s volume.
The Yankees were also already monitoring Severino’s innings this season because of his severe history of injuries over the past three seasons. They had thought they could get between 120-130 innings out of Severino and at the pace he was on, he would have blown through it.
Severino was shut down with 86 innings pitched and a 3.45 ERA.
Matt Carpenter saw a foot specialist on Friday for a second opinion on his fractured left foot.
“Everyone is in agreement with what they saw in Seattle,” Boone said. “No weight bearing for one to two weeks and then they will re-image it.”
Carpenter met with the Seahawks foot specialist on Wednesday, who said the veteran did not need surgery to repair the break. The 36-year-old fractured the foot when he fouled a ball off it in Seattle.
Copyright © 2022, New York Daily News
Copyright © 2022, New York Daily News