NEW YORK — Giancarlo Stanton launched a booming drive off the left field wall at Yankee Stadium in the seventh inning on Saturday afternoon. 6-1 win over the Twinsthe kind of explosion that had nearly everyone in the stadium anticipating a home run: even the sound engineer, who sounded the celebratory siren.
After he dropped his bat and began a trot toward first base, Stanton realized his drive from the Twins’ Jorge Alcala was at the necessary speed, but not the height to reach the visitors’ corner. Stanton ran harder, feeling his left hamstring pinch as he pulled to second base with a two-run double.
Stanton signaled to the bench, called for a runner, and gently told manager Aaron Boone that he wouldn’t be playing for a while. It came on Sunday afternoon that the Bombers placed the outfielder/designated hitter on the 10-day injured list.
Stanton will undergo an MRI scan on Sunday to determine the severity of the strain.
He was moving around really well after the game, but he definitely felt like he was IL [situation]before even getting an MRI,” Boone said before closing the set of four with the twins.
Stanton was one of the Yanks’ most productive hitters early on, slashing .269/.296/.558 (14-for-52) with three doubles, four homers and 11 RBI. He reached base in 12 of his 13 games, and hit safety in 11 of them.
“There’s no good timing for that,” Boone said. “I know it’s really frustrating. But it’s an opportunity for people that we trust. We can mix and match, and get some other people back here in the next days and the next couple of weeks. We have to do that.”
In a similar move, the Yankees recalled player Oswald Peraza from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Peraza, 22, competed with Anthony Volpe for the top shortstop job this spring and is ranked third on the club by MLB Pipeline.
Peraza’s stay in the Bronx may be short. Third baseman Josh Donaldson is due to play in a Minor League rehab game on Tuesday with Double-A Somerset and could be activated on Wednesday if all goes well. Outfielder Harrison Bader is also close to the task of rehabbing the Minor League, which could take place this week.
Stanton has suffered a series of lower half injuries in recent seasons, including IL spells for a left hamstring strain (Aug 9 – Sept 15, 2020), a left quadriceps strain (May 17 – 28, 2021), a sore right ankle (May 25 – June 4, 2022) and left Achilles tendonitis (July 26 – August 25, 2022).
“He’s got a great build and physique. He works really hard to try to avoid those things,” Boone said. “But unfortunately, that’s something that happened to him.”