Giancarlo Stanton made his highly anticipated return to the New York Yankees lineup for the first game of the series against the Los Angeles Angels on Monday, June 16th. It was his first start of the season so far as he was suffering from tennis elbow in both arms.
Giancarlo Stanton on losing starting role with New York Yankees
The 35-year-old had struggled with his elbow issues during the last season as he missed several weeks of action. His lingering injury issues raised questions over his starting role in the team, especially with Ben Rice doing well as a designated hitter in the absence of ALCS MVP.
Following his two-hit game on Monday, Stanton spoke on his starting role in the team as many players are fighting for a spot in the starting lineup.
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 acting as a designated hitter in the absence of Giancarlo Stanton, was moved to the first base in order to accommodate the All-Star slugger. Paul Goldschmidt, who was playing as the team's designated first baseman this season, was introduced as a pinch hitter.
New York Yankees manager makes bold suggestion amid Giancarlo Stanton's return
The New York Yankees had left Paul Goldschmidt on the bench for the first time this season. It came as a surprise to many Yankees fans. Meanwhile, Aaron Boone hinted that he will be rotating his hitters as Giancarlo Stanton makes his return.
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 didn't had the return he hoped for as he went 2-for-4 on Monday as the New York Yankees fell short to a shutout 1-0 loss to Los Angeles Angels.