The long day, diminished as it was, began as the Yankees dreamed it would be in December 2017:
It ended with a recurring nightmare that they are all too well acquainted with.
When “Next Man Up” came to define the Yankees in the Aaron Boone era, Giancarlo Stanton too often served the role as Last Man Down. A seven-seeded doubleheader split Saturday with the Rays at Tropicana Field _ the Yankees won the opener, 8-4, dropping the nightstand, 5-3 _ brought a lot of tension, disappointment and alertness, but the most impressive news emerged be just a little less reliable than the sunrise.
Stanton will likely go on the injured list with a left hamstring issue in the second game, Boone said, and that will mark Stanton’s third visit to the IL in two years – and that still counts the illnesses his participation in last year’s post season still limited the exact bald injury that would have placed him for Opening Hours 2020 if not for the end of pandemic.
If the Yankees can take confidence in the reality that they did well last year during Stanton’s extended absence, they could be equally sober by the fact that Stanton is signed through 2027 and really, really struggling to stay on the field.
“[I’m] hurt him, period, ”Boone said. ‘I know what he did to be here. I know, of course, that his piece speaks for itself. That hopefully is something that does not sustain him for too long. ‘
His play had been stellar. In Game 1, Stanton blew a solo, fifth-place homer, his third, adding a walk and single. He pulled a walk in the fourth that eventually led to his problems as the injury happened as he advanced to second base on a wild pitch by Rays pitcher Pete Fairbanks. He steps into inactivity with a 1,038 OPS, a sign that Stanton may still be special when he is upright, and he reinforces his position with his brave decision to kneel twice during the noble national anthem, his peaceful protest against the systemic racism of this country .
Now the Yankees lose the person and the player again. “He looked really comfortable and now we lost that power hitter,” Gleyber Torres said. “It’s hard.”
Stanton’s colleague Behemoth Aaron Judge – who defeated his main league-leading eighth homer in Game 1 and just missed a game-binding, ninth-inning blast in the second prize contest – expressed his support and sympathy for Stanton as he scored, “We have a solid team, a lot of guys on the alternative side who are a bit chompy for the chance. That Stanton will miss, but there are a lot of guys waiting for the chance.”
The recently fired Miguel Andujar, with the team in Florida as part of the taxi squad, figures to get the first shot.
Forty-year-old catcher Erik Kratz, who joined the big league roster on Saturday due to Kyle Higashioka’s fatal injury, shared some life stories on the alternative site in Scranton. The boys there, he said, have discussed whether they call themselves “The JV Team” or “Field 2.” must call. I’m more partial to the specifics of the latter – in spring training, Field 2 is where you find the guys on the bubble as the well-paid regulars work out on Field 1.
Former Field 2 boys like Mike Ford and Gio Urshela, who broke a scoreless tie in the third inning of Game 1 with a two-run homer and two-run double, respectively, have made these Yankees so successful and fun. Stanton, on the other hand, has made himself an easy target for fans’ unhappiness in the first place due to his injury problems and secondarily due to his proneness to knock out. That should not diminish what a threat Stanton may still be, what a loss this still is.
Same old story with the Yankees and Stanton. Until proven with a longer run of good health, Stanton has become a man you enjoy with one half of your brain as you wait for the next piece of bad news with the other half. It is a situation that once feels like a glass half empty.
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