Giancarlo Stanton has suffered a new injury setback that could potentially jeopardize his return to the New York Yankees for the remainder of the season. Stanton strained his left calf while running the bases earlier this week as part of his recovery program, manager Aaron Boone announced Saturday.
Stanton has not played since April 24, when he originally strained his right calf. He experienced an initial setback in June with another right calf strain. The most recent strain to his left calf is described as moderate grade.
"So what that means moving forward, we’re not ruling anything out," Boone said. "He’ll obviously continue to work to try and get it right and hopefully be available, but obviously, we’re at a point in the calendar where it gets challenging. You also never know. Obviously bummed for him. Been working his tail off every single day here, trying to get this thing right."
At the time of his initial injury, Stanton was batting .256 with a .724 OPS. His absence has contributed to a Yankees lineup that has also dealt with injuries to Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger.
"Obviously, it’s been a tough road where he kinda re-injured a different return of the calf muscle halfway through here and then — and now this," Boone added. "So tough news and just feel for G because I know how bad he wants to be in there with us. But at the same time, it is what it is too, and we gotta just keep moving and try and hopefully get him right to where he still can be in the mix by the end."
With only 33 regular-season games remaining after Saturday, time is running out for Stanton to return to the field.