BRONX — It turns out Giancarlo Stanton’s exit from Saturday’s 6-1 win over the Minnesota Twins was more than just the Yankee wanting to rest him during a blowout.
The club announced on Sunday that the slugger would be going on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain and would undergo an MRI. Stanton exited the game on Saturday in the sixth inning after he hit a two-run double to extend the Bombers’ lead.
Manager Aaron Boone said before the series finale with the Twins that the injury occurred as he was accelerating to second base. Boone didn’t notice it at first until Stanton signaled him to come out of the game. The severity of the issue is unknown.
“He was moving around okay after the game,” Boone said. “But he definitely felt like it was before even getting the MRI it was an IL stint. So we’ll see what we got today.”
Boone said after the game that he didn’t have an update, but ESPN’s Marly Rivera reported that Stanton was diagnosed with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain and that he could be looking at a four to six-week recovery.
Stanton has dealt with a number of injury issues since he came to the Yankees, which included a calf and Achilles issue last season that cost him time on the field. Boone didn’t have an answer when asked why Stanton seemed so susceptible to injuries.
The injury did allow the Yankees to bring up Oswald Peraza from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Peraza had been the leading candidate to win the starting shortstop job out of camp in the spring.
Instead, Anthony Volpe won the job and Peraza was sent back to the minors. He was not in the Yankees lineup on Sunday and it could be a challenge to get him playing time while he is up with the big club.
Boone said that Peraza would be an option to play second or third, but “there’s no factoring into the third base mix.”
“It makes it, you know, a little dicey, but the reality is we brought up a really good player here in a time of need right now,” Boone said.
