Giancarlo Stanton: Injury woes are ‘unacceptable’
Giancarlo Stanton has been injured a lot in recent years, to say the least. This time around, Stanton is expected to miss around six weeks with a hamstring injury.
“It’s unacceptable [being out] this often right now,” Stanton told the media. “The team relies on me. I can’t have this continue to happen and put us in a really tough spot we weren’t prepared for. There are guys to fill the roles that’ll do just fine but at the same time, it’s my duty and responsibility to be out there.”
Stanton, 33, wants to be out there for his team. This injury adds to the list of many different injuries he’s sustained since arriving in New York in a trade from Miami. A lot of his injuries have been to his lower body, including foot, Achilles, knee, and quad injuries. This current hamstring pull is no different.
Inability to Remain Healthy
Since the superstar slugger joined the New York Yankees before the 2018 season, he has only played 130+ games twice. Factoring in the 2020 60-game season and the young 2023 regular season, Stanton has played 461 regular-season games out of a potential 727 regular-season games. That’s good for about 63% of the team’s total regular season games since Stanton first dawned the pinstripes.
Missing as much time as Stanton has will have an impact on the team. At least Stanton is well aware of this and wants badly to be out there on the field. In so many instances, players will just say they’re resting and give PR-friendly answers. Stanton wants to play for the massive contract he’s on as well.
Stanton signed a 13-year, $325 million contract in 2014 with the Marlins. They eventually shipped him off to the Yankees just three years later. The Marlins are still paying the price of that contract today, as it killed their payroll and set their franchise back. Stanton is set to make $32 million in 2023.
The Yankees need Stanton to stay healthy down the stretch this season. With the amount of money they’re shelling out to the slugger, Stanton and the team knows he needs to be consistently on the field for this contract to be worth it.
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