After four straight seasons of playing in at least 100 games, New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton has appeared in just 77 games in the 2025 season. Tennis elbow in both arms limits his ability to play, and he has resigned himself to the fact that the injury will affect him for the rest of his career.
Taking advantage of the winter break did not allow the 36-year-old Stanton to fully recover.
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“You have good days and bad days, just like your moods and everything,” Stanton told NJ.com’s Randy Miller on Wednesday.
Stanton didn’t start his 2025 season until June 16, finishing with 24 homers, 66 RBIs and slashing .273/.350/.594. He has yet to appear in any spring training games this year but is scheduled to appear next Tuesday when the Yankees take on the World Baseball Classic in Panama.
The elbow issue not only affects Stanton’s on-field duties, but also his performance. This also affected his performance off the field.
“I couldn’t open a bottle. I couldn’t open a bag of chips…a bag of anything,” Stanton told Miller. “That’s it.”
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Injuries have been the story of Stanton’s MLB career. Since joining the Miami Marlins in 2013, he has appeared in 64 percent of 2,106 games (1,353 games). He hasn’t appeared in more than 139 games in a season since 2017 and 2018, when he played 159 games in his final season with the Marlins and 158 in his first year with the Yankees.
Stanton has one of the highest exit velocity hitters (at least 93 mph in each of the past six seasons, according to StatCast), but Stanton doesn’t think surgery will fix his elbow issues.
“This is not going to be fixed with surgery and I don’t care what any doctor says because they don’t know what’s going on,” Stanton said. “What is written [about my elbows] That’s what the Yankees and I give you. “
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Stanton’s goal, however realistic, is a full 162-game schedule.
“You never go into a season thinking it’s not going to be a big season, but you keep the season going,” Stanton said. “Get me in the box. The key is getting in the box.”
