NEW YORK — Giancarlo Stanton appeared to be approaching the final stretch of a four-month rehabilitation process.
Now the Yankees may have lost him for the rest of the season.
Stanton strained his other calf after falling while running, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Saturday. Boone described the new injury as a moderate-grade strain.
The setback is particularly harsh because the Yankees slugger had already spent nearly four months trying to return from a right calf strain suffered April 24 in Houston.
This time, the problem is the opposite calf.
For the Yankees, a rehabilitation process that seemed to be inching toward a return has abruptly reset with only a little more than five weeks remaining in the regular season.
Stanton goes from running bases to another calf strain
The reversal happened quickly. During a pre-game press meet, Boone announced that Stanton fell while running and injured his other calf. He described it as “strained'”
As recently as Thursday, Boone said Stanton had continued advancing his running program and recently increased his work on the bases.
“He had been [running], I think yesterday or the day before, did more bases,” Boone said Thursday. “But nothing new.”
Two days later, there is something very different.
Stanton fell while running and strained the calf that had not been responsible for his lengthy injured-list stay. With Boone calling it a moderate-grade injury, the possibility of Stanton returning for the Yankees’ postseason push has become considerably more remote.
There is no established timetable yet.
Boone’s acknowledgment that Stanton could be finished for 2026 is the clearest indication of how dramatically the situation has changed.
The Yankees had previously continued operating under the expectation that Stanton would play again this season.
On July 6, Boone said he was surprised Stanton’s original calf recovery had taken so long but maintained that the Yankees expected him back.
That optimism is now in serious jeopardy.
One calf injury became a four-month Yankees ordeal
Stanton’s original injury began in a relatively routine sequence.
He experienced right calf tightness while jogging from first to second on a walk during an April 24 game against Houston. At the time, the Yankees initially hoped he had caught the problem early.
Stanton was batting .256 with a .302 on-base percentage and .422 slugging percentage in 24 games. He had three home runs, six doubles and 14 RBIs.
His recovery appeared to be moving toward a return in June.
Then came the first setback.
The Yankees slugger felt another issue in the same right calf while running the bases at Yankee Stadium. The Yankees reduced his baseball activity, and the timeline disappeared again.
He eventually resumed treadmill work, progressed to running outdoors and returned to baserunning drills.
The latest injury is different because it occurred in the other leg.
Instead of simply aggravating an injury that never completely healed, Stanton has developed another moderate strain after spending months carefully rebuilding his running workload.
Played in fewer than one-fifth of Yankees games
The timing puts a startling number on Stanton’s season.
The Yankees entered Saturday at 73-55, meaning they had played 128 games.
Stanton has appeared in only 24.
That means he has been available for 18.8% of the Yankees’ games this season, a calculation based on the current team and individual totals.
He has not appeared in a major league game since April 24.
Saturday marks 120 days since that last appearance.
And despite that long recovery window, Stanton is now dealing with a new injury rather than simply waiting for clearance from the original one.
The physical problems have become a defining part of the latter stage of his career.
Stanton’s original calf injury marked his seventh injured-list stint since 2021. During that span, he has also missed time with quad, ankle, Achilles, hamstring and elbow issues.
The Yankees slugger has not played a full season since 2018, his first year with the Yankees.
Yankees lose a potential October weapon before getting him back
The consequences extend beyond the final weeks of the regular season.
Stanton’s recent regular-season production has declined, but his postseason history has repeatedly made him one of the Yankees’ most dangerous October hitters.
That was part of the value New York hoped to recover.
The Yankees had been preparing for the possibility of getting several important bats back in stages. Cody Bellinger could return as soon as Sunday from his hamstring strain, while Aaron Judge has resumed hitting work during his recovery from a fractured rib.
Stanton was supposed to be another potential addition.
Now Boone cannot guarantee he will play again this year.
The Yankees do have more ways to cover designated hitter than they did earlier in the season. Ben Rice has received the most DH opportunities during Stanton’s absence, while the club can rotate other hitters through the spot as injured players return.
But replacing Stanton’s right-handed power, particularly in a postseason series, is a different matter.
He has 456 career home runs and is under contract through 2027, with a team option for 2028.
Reaching 500 once looked like a realistic late-career milestone.
His body has increasingly made the pursuit more difficult.
Yankees’ Stanton hope changes in a matter of days
The latest development is especially striking because of where the Yankees slugger stood earlier this week.
On Tuesday, Boone said Stanton was nearing the end of his running program and responding well. By Thursday, he had progressed to additional baserunning.
The Yankees still did not have a rehab assignment scheduled, but the direction was positive.
Then the hardest-hitting slugger fell.
Now he has a moderate strain in the opposite calf, and the manager is openly acknowledging that the season could end without Stanton taking another at-bat.
For a Yankees team trying to close a three-game gap in the AL East and build a postseason lineup, one expected reinforcement may no longer be coming.
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