Giancarlo Stanton opens up on possibly losing Yankees starter role

Giancarlo Stanton made his much-anticipated return to the Yankees lineup for the first game of the series against the Los Angeles Angels on Monday. It was his first start after missing the season so far due to tennis elbow in both arms.

The veteran slugger struggled with elbow issues last season, missing several weeks of action. His injury struggles have raised a potential question mark over his starting role, especially with Ben Rice doing well as a designated hitter in the reigning ALCS MVP's absence.

Following his two-hit game on Monday, Stanton opened up on his starting role in the team with several players competing for a spot in the lineup. Stanton said (1:20 onwards):

"Whatever is best for us to win, that's the most important thing, and the guys that aren't gonna be starting are going to come in huge from pinch spots. You have that opportunity. Usually a chance to win the game anyway. So yeah, we'll work with it."

Ben Rice, who was the designated hitter for the team in Giancarlo Stanton's absence, was moved to first base to accommodate the All-Star slugger. Paul Goldschmidt, the team's designated first baseman this season, was introduced as a pinch hitter.

Yankees manager makes bold suggestion amid Giancarlo Stanton's return

Although leaving Paul Goldschmidt on the bench for the first time this season came as a surprise to many Yankees fans, manager Aaron Boone had hinted at rotating his hitters with Giancarlo Stanton's slated arrival.

"We'll have to work a little bit of a rotation there. G will be part of that," he said. "So I expect him to play regularly, but he'll have his days too, and we'll just kind of let this thing shake out.

"I've talked to the guys about it. We're gonna have a couple good players sitting over there every single day that you can make the case should be in the lineup. We're all on the same page with it and ready to roll."

Giancarlo Stanton went 2-for-4 on his return to the lineup on Monday but it wasn't able to spark a lackluster offense, as the Yankees fell to a shutout 1-0 loss.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash