Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton exited yesterday’s game against the Astros in the sixth inning with right calf tightness. Manager Aaron Boone downplayed the seriousness of this issue, telling Chandler Rome of The Athletic it was “too early” for him to be concerned. “Hopefully we got ahead of anything serious, but we’ll just see where he’s at tomorrow,” said Boone. Stanton is on the bench for today’s game, and no injury list move is pending as of now.
The 36-year-old missed the first half of last season with injuries to both his elbows. Dating back to the 2021 season, he has missed roughly one third of his team’s games, mostly due to lower body injuries. Even so, he remains a crucial part of the lineup. In last year’s half-season, Stanton hit 24 home runs and posted a .321 isolated slugging percentage, his highest mark since coming to New York in 2018. He is not quite at that level so far in 2026, though the team would obviously prefer him healthy and in the lineup. If he eventually misses time this year, that could result in DH at bats for role players like Paul Goldschmidt and Amed Rosario, neither of whom is an inspiring option in a larger role.
A few more injury notes out of the AL East:
- On the pitching side in New York, left-hander Carlos Rodón made his first rehab start yesterday for the Yankees’ High-A affiliate. According to Shanthi Sepe-Chepuru of MLB.com, the club anticipates he’ll need three rehab starts before rejoining the rotation. Assuming he stays on track, that could put him in line to start at the end of the May 8-10 series against the Brewers, or possibly against Baltimore from May 11-13. New York’s rotation has been exceptional to start the year, posting league-best marks in ERA (2.61) and K-BB rate (19.7%). Luis Gil has been the only weak spot, so he’s the likeliest candidate for a demotion when Rodón makes his return.
- Injured Red Sox starter Sonny Gray is traveling with the team and set to throw a bullpen session on Monday, per manager Alex Cora (link via Chris Cotillo of MassLive). That implies the right-hander, who was placed on the 15-day IL on Monday, will not require a rehab assignment and could return with a minimal absence. That would be welcome news for Boston, as their rotation has struggled to a 4.61 ERA through their first 26 games. Gray isn’t off to a great start himself, but he was a capable mid-rotation arm from 2023-25, so the club is unbothered by the results in a small sample size. His eventual return may spell a demotion for Payton Tolle, who struck out 11 hitters in six innings in his season debut on Thursday.
- Rays outfield prospect Jacob Melton has a Grade 2 left ankle sprain and is out of game action for 4-6 weeks, according to Marc Topkin of The Tampa Bay Times. Melton, who was acquired in a three-team trade in December, currently ranks as the club’s third-best prospect according to MLB.com. He is likely to see time in the Majors this year. The starting outfielders – Chandler Simpson, Jake Fraley, and Cedric Mullins – all have plus range or arm strength, but they are also below-average hitters. Melton’s scouting report mentions room for improvement on his hit tool, though he flashed plus power at Triple-A in 2024-25 and is a solid defender.
Photo courtesy of Maria Lysaker, Imagn Images
Amed Rosario is doing pretty solid this season. He’s above average right now for sure. Not saying he is better than stanton, but he is better than most tend to believe
A huge chunk of Rosario’s offensive production came in one single game.
Im generally opposed to pure DHs as it seems most teams would be best suited rotating DH ABs to keep valuable bats in lineup and giving rest from the field. There are a few cases with guys like Ohtani or Papi where their bats are just so potent that anything that gets them in lineup is justified. With Rosario tho hes a below avg fielder and is anything but a potent bat. Stanton provides some value while the days tick down til a buyout or release becomes more feasible.
The best teams, deep playoff teams, mostly have full time DHs. You can’t use a position strictly for hitting to get your utility guy or backup catcher more ABs and expect to compete with a team with MVP caliber bats in that position
Sonny Gray has had 11 injuries since 2020. Let’s hope this is the only one this year.
Very convenient his latest injury came before having to pitch against the Yanks
Yet Gray pitched in 32, 28, and 32 games the last 3 seasons. The 2 seasons prior he pitched in 24 and 26. In 2020 he started 11 of 60 games.
You say it as though hes missed huge swaths of playing time which is absolutely not true.
Consider the source.
Yeah bud, I’m sure he faked an injury to avoid the Yanks, lol.
McClanahan dusted the Twins, Crochet had a strong start for Boston. Two big developments in the AL East.
took 3 whole weeks for stanton to get hurt. about 2 weeks more than i expected.
time for jasson or spencer?
Might be a long term positive to have one of them prove themselves in Stanton’s absence. Why Grichuk is also taking up a spot that could be Jones or Dominguez’ is also confusing me.
Grichuk & grisham both taking up roster space
Jasson,spenc should def be up
Neither Jones nor Dominguez are known for hitting lefties. Also you don’t want young guys playing 2 games per week. Dominguez comes up if Stanton hits the IL. They won’t bring him up unless it’s to play around 70% of the time. Jones needs another injury to come up if they even trust him. He’s whifftastic in AAA he’ll probably strike out 40% in MLB
Munetaka Murakami was not signed to a big contract by other teams because they were worried about his strike outs. Seems to be doing alright
Surely you’re not equating AAA with the NPB? I’d love Jones to make it as he plays a good CF, has speed and an arm. Right now his minor league K rate is in a territory no one has successfully maintained in MLB yet. If he drops it a bit or breaks the mold I’m here for it. I’m not betting on that outcome and it seems neither are the Yankees.
Joey Gallo has a similar K rate in the minors and sustained major league success for a solid number of years. Obviously not a HoFer but a young Gallo on a rookie contract is more than you can ask for from most prospects
I’m am not equating AAA to NPB, just saying that even with projected high SO numbers, he can perform well
I’d love him to make it but literally no one has had the swing and miss issues of Jones and had a career. Barring a miracle he’d hit.180 with 20 homers and 250 k’s if he were in the majors. Gallo looks like Rod Carew next to what Jones would do.
It’s not that confusing. They wanted both young guys to get consistent ABs and they wanted a righty OF bench bat. Can’t have every OFer being a lefty.
When you’re developing young players it’s not great to just have them ride the pine
Not good for development to keep 25yr old in aaa forever
If he’s not a good fit for the roster, Trade spencer
Otherwise he’s wasting away all his potential
I agree with trading them and the Dodgers don’t seem to have any gripes about keeping their top prospects in the minors longer than they “should”. It’s what happens when you sign FAs to long-term deals. If Grisham didn’t accept the QO this offseason, which was probably unexpected, Dominguez would be on the roster. BTW Jones doesn’t even have that much experience at Triple-A and has struck out way too much, so it’s not like he has nothing to work on
Its the same conversation over and over about Spencer
Yanks intentionally slowly brought him up thru the minors. They’ve had a crowded OF for years. He woulda sailed thru most farm systems. Yes alot of Ks. But immense power + speed. In that lineup, in that stadium he would thrive like rice or at the very least put up # like wells. They are literally keeping him around just in case of injuries… his trade value is falling everyday. At 25 he’s not the typical high profile prospect you try to acquire…stanton’s deal is up after 2027, thats his best shot at everyday AB but i’m sure yanks will sign big name FA instead…
Depends what they would get in a trade. A guy who swings and misses more than Joey Gallo, even though he’s in AAA, probably doesn’t generate a significant return from another team. For now, he’s emergency depth and a long-shot speculative play that he improves his contact from unprecedentedly terrible to merely not very good, at which point, he could probably be a pretty good big leaguer.
He had a spectacular 2025
And crushed it in ST
Schwarber Ks a ton too. And is 230 lifetime hitter. With no speed. And DH
A successful career is possible for spence if he just gets a chance
Schwarber chases less, misses less, and takes more walks. In the majors, not at AAA. For Jones to be a productive major leaguer, he would have to be pretty much the most exceptional on-contact hitter in baseball. I think he would hit about .180 and not get to as much power or take enough walks to make that work.
It would also just be ugly as hell to watch, but that’s a personal objection.
Dominguez is hitting great in AAA this year, so I would personally like to see him up. Jones is feel is still developing a little. He isn’t doing horrible this year, as of now hitting .222
The issue is that Anthony Volpe is coming off the IL within a week or so. Grichuk was probably going to get DFA’d to make room on the roster, since both Rosario and Caballero can backup in corner OF. If Dominguez or Jones were there instead of a disposable player like Grichuk, they would get sent down upon Volpe’s return anyway. An IL stint for Stanton might change that equation. Remains to be seen.
Tolle better not go down. Send Bello to the bullpen
bass – Bello has options, he may be better served staying stretched out in AAA. Especially with Gray’s injury history.
Yeah, maybe. But would demoting him to Worcester be worse for his psyche? Being stretched out isn’t all the relevant if he can’t put it back together
bass – No matter what, Bello won’t be buried in the minors forever. He’ll get his head straightened out eventually. We saw how good he can be last year and in the WBC.
32, 28, and 32 thats the # of starts Gray had the last 3 seasons. The 3 seasons prior to that 24, 26, and 11(of 60 games).
Gray has by no means missed an excessive amount of games. Hes missed just over a half season total out of the past 6 years.
Bello is an average major league starter at best. He doesn’t strike out enough batters and walks too many. He was lucky to end up with a low ERA last year (4.19 FIP, 4.32 career FIP). He’ll never be as good as Sonny Gray has been over his fine career. Yet you’re on here complaining about Sonny Gray constantly for some reason.
When you’re on a mission to bash Sonny Gray, why let facts get in the way?
Hank – K’s and Velo don’t win games, run prevention wins games.
Hating on Bello just because he’s not 6’6″ 245lbs throwing 98 MPH is silly. Anyone who watched his games saw the improvement last year. Much like Duran, when he struggles it’s mental more than anything.
Gray is injury prone and has declined each of the past two years, which is concerning given his advanced age. They didn’t need him after the Ranger signing.
Hray started 93 games over the past 3 seasons. Enough with these salary hes injury prone…
This may seem harsh if you have never seen a post of mine, but this is the reality I was talking about for the last 4 years about what I believe Bello is. My Dubront posts were very similar and right back then also. Believe me, I was thrilled after he pitched like hot garbage last year to see him turn it around for that spurt of good outings. Nothing would have pleased me more than be wrong about this guy, have him overperform, and have the team succeed because he FINALLY figured it out.
If I knew Bello thought at all I might be worried about the effect on his psych of being demoted. So no, not worried.
Every person that has ever read me post for Bello’s career knows what I have thought about him from the time he came up. At best he is a thrower. I never saw him as a top of the rotation “pitcher.” There was always a wide gap in my eyes from what Pedro saw in those first spring training bullpens in year one and what was transferring into the games.
Bello has been squandering his ability for years and hasn’t shown much improvement. Regression at times or a fleeting run of good outings, yes. I do not see any marked improvement from the thrower in his first year to today, nor do I think there ever will be that jump in success at this point.
I think we are getting worse than what he could/should be, but I also think the highs points are so inconsistent that we shouldn’t count on them being around the next corner anymore. He is now underperforming at the 4/5 slot I thought he would be relegated to eventually anyway.
A demotion may be the wakeup call Bello needs that there are guys willing and able to take his job away from him. It isn’t hard to replicate his stats or his strain on the bullpen every 5 days with pitchers with a lower price tag and less potential.
His rookie year I pegged him as a 4 or 5 at best. He was too inconsistent with his aim, too predictable in his approach, and didn’t exactly have elite swing and miss stuff. He was a quintessential 5/6 inning bottom of the rotation guy with a narrow upside to be a 3. Management evaluated him as a potential ace or number 2. In what world, I have no idea.
I don’t want to send him down to spike his career. I want to send him down to save it. This kid has to know he isn’t cutting it. He is a disappointment. There are consequences. His contract was based on potential when he received it, not any tangible success that he has earned. Go back down and show the team what you are willing to do, change, learn, and improve upon to earn that gift of a contract over the other guys.
What injury history? He’s been one of the more durable starting pitchers in the game.
Hank – Would it kill you to take 42 seconds to research his injury history before accusing me of being wrong? LOL!
Like I said, this is his 11th separate injury since 2020, and that’s counting the Sept2024 forearm injury only once.
foxsports.com/mlb/sonny-gray-player-injuries
DATE
INJURY
4/20/26
Leg
9/19/24
Forearm
3/27/24
Hamstring
9/19/22
Hamstring
9/2/22
Hamstring
5/29/22
Pectoral
4/16/22
Hamstring
7/8/21
Rib cage
6/8/21
Groin
4/1/21
Back
9/11/20
Right mid-back
11 of 60 games started in 2020
26 games 2021
24 games 2022
32 games 2023
28 games 2024
32 games 2025
Context is key but you seem to have a habit of leaving out key facts such as games started.
Some of these dates you have listed are of the same injury such as the hamstring and then you list when he went in IL as a separate injury. You also list 2020 where he skipped 1 start and avoided IL.
Its almost as if you just copied the information from a Fox Sports article and were too lazy to get any context.
This is misleading. Simpson is on track for 4.2 WAR, Mullins has lost playing time to Jonny Deluca, and Fraley is in a nice little platoon with Ryan Vilade, so Rays OF was not exactly clamoring for Jacob Melton, who was hitting poorly in AAA.
would they actually send tolle down? what else does he have to prove?
dasit – Last year his first start was very good, then he crapped the bed for the rest of the season. He has to prove he can make adjustments, he will probably get at least two more starts to do so.
Tolle has secondary pitches now so hopefully he’s here to stay
Rsox – Per BradFo big changes to coaching staff may be happening.
Coaches are always the first to go, especially when the manager has the owner in his back pocket.
Rsox – Oh my God …. they fired Cora, Fatse, Tek and Vazquez per Passan!!!
And that’s after putting up 17 runs today.
It needed to happen. This team has no fire with Cora
Rsox – It sure did, but it’s still a shocker.
How did Bailey end up surviving?
Well at least Fatso & Lawson are gone, those are the coaches that needed to go the most.
It’s odd that he’s the only one that did. They must still believe in what he’s selling. I imagine he and Breslow are both on short leashes depending how this season turns out
Rsox – Sorry the excitement is clouding my brain. LOL
Bailey is a Breslow guy, Cora didn’t bring him to Boston.
Teammates in Oakland: Bailey and Breslow were teammates on the Oakland Athletics for three seasons, from 2009 to 2011.
Teammates in Boston: They were teammates again on the 2013 Boston Red Sox World Series championship team.
Foundation Work: Bailey has served as the director of development for Breslow’s Strike 3 Foundation, a charity dedicated to pediatric cancer research, for several years.
Mentorship/Connection: Breslow was a key driver in bringing Bailey to the San Francisco Giants as a pitching coach and later hired him to be the Red Sox pitching coach in November 2023.
That’s why I think their futures are tied together. If Breslow gets fired over the winter Bailey probably does too
Rsox – You think that’s possible next winter? I would think Breslow gets one more shot with a manager of his choice (Ross?).
Ross was who I was thinking as well.
John Henry is the one doing all of the talking so I can imagine there may be some dissatisfaction with Breslow as he built the team that has underperformed.
Rsox – I think the team would have to perform the same or worse the rest of the season for Breslow to be canned this year. Even then, I think he gets one more shot.
Manager Aaron Boone downplayed the seriousness of this issue.
hayzee – Rem Dawg used to call him Booner.
He’s Dr. Boonedoggle. And their star player is Error in Judgement.
The Red Sox closer is Howoldis Chapman.
And I’m YAZ, but only in my dreams.
hayzee – Remember I deciphered your handle a while ago …..
why (Y)
hay (A)
zee (Z)
I still think Judge is above average, how about you?
That means Stanton will be on the IL on or before May 1. Martian sighting soon!
Bello needs to go to AAA when Grey returns if he no longer has options then the bullpen til he gets his stuff right. Last night was an embarrassment and even the Orioles stadium crew was making fun of him declaring they were out of Home Run fire works
Rsox – Bello has options.
I think Boston should go to a 6 man rotation. Crochet, Gray, Bello, Suarez, Early, and Tolle. Let Tolle and Early get innings and it will help limit the innings on Gray and Suarez the grizzled vets.
Bello needs to be in AAA.
I hope trading Melton was worth it. However, I think it’ll be Brito who we wish we kept.
The Rays have Deluca in CF mix also.