TAMPA — Giancarlo Stanton’s October heroics became even more impressive Sunday when Aaron Boone disclosed that he was playing through an injury at the time.
The only problem is that a few months later, the Yankees slugger is still dealing with the issue and it will have him starting spring training from behind.
Stanton has the equivalent of tennis elbow in both elbows, Boone said on the day position players reported to camp to take their physicals, which could jeopardize his ability to start the season on time.
“We want to make sure we’re giving that as much time [as it needs], so we’ll probably slow-play him a little bit,” Boone said Sunday at Steinbrenner Field. “I’m expecting him to be OK, it’s just a matter of when we want to start really rolling it out to give us the best chance to get as much of him as we can.”
Asked whether the injury could affect Stanton’s availability for the start of the season, Boone said it was “tough to say.”
“I’m not going to put any timeline on it,” Boone said. “We’re going to be smart with it and listen to it.”
Boone said Stanton dealt with the elbow issues late last season and even in October, when the veteran DH put together a monster postseason by batting .273 with seven home runs and a 1.048 OPS in 14 games.
The 35-year-old was then ramping up his activity in the offseason before shutting it down and getting treatment on his elbows.
“It’s just something we don’t want to rush,” Boone said. “If we can get to a really good spot – and know we’re probably going to have to deal with some maintenance on it throughout the year. But don’t want to force anything too early.
“This is something that if we were full-bore in, we’d be grinding away probably. Just want to make sure we give it the proper time and give ourselves the best position throughout the year.”
Trent Grisham is also starting camp a little behind after pulling a hamstring a few weeks ago while training, Boone said.
The outfielder was running close to full speed on Sunday but the Yankees will not push him at this point.
