UNDERSTANDING GIANCARLO STANTON'S ELBOWS

Alright, alright.

Truth be told, I was frustrated by the Stanton, elbow news. My thinking was how does Giancarlo Stanton go from looking like a sculpted demigod in the 2024 postseason to rolling into spring training with elbow pain so bad that the Yankees are whispering about surgery? This dude was crushing it just months ago, and now his arms are falling off? Something doesn’t add up to me.

Stanton himself casually mentioned earlier in the spring that he expected to deal with some elbow discomfort throughout the season. Okay, fine. But now the Yankees are talking “corrective steps” and tossing around the word “surgery” like it’s just a routine tune-up. Now in fairness, Cashman called surgery a “last resort,” which sounds reassuring—until you realize that’s exactly how these things start before suddenly, whoops, it’s happening. 

And here’s the thing—why has this never been an issue before? Stanton’s been with the Yankees for years, and now, out of nowhere, his elbows are rebelling?

And speaking of vague and suspicious, remember when Aaron Boone said Stanton has to leave camp for “personal reasons”? Just another cryptic nugget tossed our way while they hope we move on. But I refuse to move on damn it! I want to know what’s actually going on here.

The latest update? Stanton is in New York getting his second round of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections in both elbows. That sounds fancy, but let’s break it down. PRP therapy is a regenerative treatment that uses a patient’s own blood to promote healing and repair tissue. Basically, science magic. But what if the magic doesn’t work?

Did some digging, and here’s what I found about PRP:

• It’s not foolproof: Some people see no improvement at all.

• Success depends on a lot of factors: How bad the injury is, how the PRP is prepared, how the injections are done, and even how well the patient’s body decides to cooperate.

• Other options exist: If PRP flops, the next steps could be corticosteroid shots, physical therapy, or—you guessed it—surgery.

So, here’s my wild (but maybe not so wild) theory—could this be something arthritic? Is that why the Yankees are being so weirdly vague? Arthritis wouldn’t be shocking, but it would explain why they’re dodging direct answers. And if that’s the case, I get it—I’m not even an athlete, and I get random arthritis flare-ups. Bodies are weird like that.

Cashman tried to clarify, saying, “Ultimately, he was dealing with it at the end of last year and obviously thought we were in a good place. I think he was feeling like we were in a good place, but then it reared its ugly head about three weeks before camp, is my understanding.”

So now, we wait. We hope. 

Stanton hit .233 with 27 homers and 72 RBIs over 114 games last season, and in the postseason, he turned it up to .273 with seven homers and 16 RBIs. If he can get back to form, it’s a game-changer for the Yankees. But for now, all we can do is cross our fingers, grit our teeth, and prepare for whatever cryptic updates the Yankees throw our way next.

Get well soon, G.