New York Yankees: Giancarlo Stanton lands on the IL in first road bump of season

The New York Yankees have placed Giancarlo Stanton on the 10-day injured list with a left biceps strain, the team announced Monday. This will be the first true road bump of the young season for the Yankees.

New York Yankees have hit their first test of the season, as Giancarlo Stanton was put on the 10-day IL by the team with a left biceps strain.

After dropping 2 out of 3 games to start the season against last years’ worst team, the Baltimore Orioles, many fans and media members were already overreacting about the Yankees. This certainly will not help that cause.

Stanton had a decent opening series against the Orioles, getting 2 hits in 8 at-bats while walking a league high 7 times over 3 games played.

To replace Stanton, the team has recalled Clint Frazier from AAA.

While it’s unclear exactly how long Stanton will be out, especially since this seems like a relatively minor injury, him landing on the IL this early is a bit of a concern in my opinion. On the baseball side of things, the Yankees will be losing arguably their best hitter for the next 10 days and maybe more, depending on how he recovers.

Yes, there are still 159 games left and there really isn’t any reason to start freaking out yet. But we all know that in professional sports, especially baseball, every game counts. Having a player as valuable as Stanton out for any period of time is never a good thing.

The other thing that could be alarming with this news is Stanton’s injury history. While he’s only missed a grand total of 7 games over the last two years, he had 5 straight seasons in which he played 145 games or less, largely due to various injuries.

If he reverts back to the less durable version of himself we all saw in Miami, it could be a bit troubling for a Yankees team that’s competing for a World Series trophy in 2019.

A great thing about the Yankees is that they have the depth to cover an injury like this, even if it’s to someone as important to the team as Stanton is.

Frazier is the man replacing Stanton for now. He did miss most of 2018 with a concussion, but he is a former top prospect with a ton of talent. They should also have Aaron Hicks and Jacoby Ellsbury coming back from their respective in late April, proving the Yankees outfield has plenty of depth.

With that being said, I’m sure the Yankees would rather have Stanton out there than anyone else. If he can return to the field after he comes off the IL in 10 days, the team will be in good shape moving forward.