How Yankees plan to handle Giancarlo Stanton's 2026 playing time, even though he 'can't open a bag of chips'
Stanton's elbow injuries will affect the rest of his MLB career
Yankees hulking designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton has dealt with plenty of injuries in his career. He didn't make his season debut in 2025 until June 16 due to dealing with tennis elbow -- in both elbows. And yet Stanton, who turned 36 over the offseason, is looking to avoid the injured list in 2026.
He seems to have accepted that he'll be in pain and can't do things many of us take for granted as normal, so long as he can keep taking swings.
Asked if his elbow injuries have healed, Stanton told NJ.com "that'll never be the case."
Never?
"Not while I'm in this line of work," he said. "You have your good days and bad days, just like your mood and everything."
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"I can't open a bottle," Stanton said. "I can't open a bag of chips … a bag of anything. That's the way it is."
Despite that, Stanton says he's still eyeing a full season. He and the Yankees are slow-playing things this spring, as he hasn't yet seen game action (he's expected to start his first game on March 3) but is getting in his work in the batting cages. During the regular season, the expectation is that he'll get regular playing time and also rest on occasion.
"No doubt, no doubt," Yankees manager Aaron Boone told NJ.com. "We did that last year. There were days he was playing where it was tough for him, but he wanted in there. There are other days he wanted to be in there and I'd say, 'We have to stay disciplined to this because you're so critical to us.'"
Stanton played in just 77 games last season, but he's still capable of being a one-man wrecking crew. He hit .273/.350/.594, good for a huge 158 OPS+ and clubbed 24 homers with 66 RBI -- again, that's in less than half a season. In the last five seasons with the Yankees, Stanton has averaged 28.2 home runs and 108 games per season. The hope he and the Yankees have this season is he'll play a lot more than 108 games. If he does, we might well see 40 homers.
The active leader in career homers, Stanton has 453 to his credit. He's signed through 2027 with a club option for 2028. Lovers of baseball history will note that it looks like there's a good chance Stanton gets to 500 career home runs.
For the Yankees and Stanton, they'll just look to see him in the lineup this season for something like 135 games.
When Stanton is in there, the Yankees have one of the more powerful lineups in the league. Trent Grisham hit 34 home runs last season and Jazz Chisholm had 31. Ben Rice hit 26 in only 467 at-bats, Cody Bellinger had 29 and then there are Judge and Stanton. That's six prolific power hitters before you even get to a catcher who hit 21 last season in Austin Wells.
The Yankees went 94-68 last season, tying them for the best American League record, but they lost a tiebreaker to the Blue Jays and had to settle for a wild card. They were knocked out of the playoffs by the Jays in the ALDS.
