Giancarlo Stanton is still yet to partake in any baseball activities at Yankees spring training in Tampa, and now the veteran is headed back to New York.
NJ.com’s Randy Miller was the first to report that Stanton was on his way back to New York to meet with the head of the Yankees' medical team, Dr. Christopher Ahmad.
According to Miller, surgery "would be the last line of defense, but has so far not been seriously considered."
However, Aaron Boone told reporters in Fort Myers, Fla. on Monday that Stanton's issue was "personal in nature" and that he was going to "leave it at that for now."
Stanton, 35, has been dealing with what the club has referred to as tennis elbow in both of his elbows, which has kept him out of all baseball activities.
The 2017 NL MVP played through elbow issues in 2024, when he ended up slashing .233/.298/.475 with 27 homers and 72 RBI in 114 regular season games. Stanton’s numbers were much better in the playoffs, when he posed a 1.048 OPS with seven home runs and 16 RBI in 14 games.
At this point in his career, Stanton’s days of playing the outfield are behind him, as he didn’t appear at any of the outfield positions during the 2024 season. So as long as Stanton can swing the bat and run the bases, he theoretically could play through elbow discomfort, but testing will show if there’s a larger issue at hand.