CLEVELAND — In the stadium where he put the Yankees on his broad shoulders last October, Giancarlo Stanton stepped up to the plate Tuesday to test out his elbows.
The Yankees slugger, rehabbing tennis elbow in both arms, took on-field batting practice for the first time at Progressive Field as he continues to make a comeback from the ailment that has sidelined him since the spring.
“They’re getting better,” Stanton said of his elbows after taking a few rounds of batting practice.
Stanton had been hitting indoors off the high-velocity Trajekt pitching machine in recent weeks, but on Tuesday he checked off another box toward eventually beginning a rehab assignment — though he said he was not yet sure when that might begin. First, he will need to advance to facing live pitching, which the Yankees have indicated should happen soon.
“I don’t usually hit on the field all the time, so I’ve been hitting inside,” Stanton said. “Pop out here, get a feel for what my work is inside and build that way.”
The 35-year-old DH, who was also dealing with a minor calf issue in camp, recently began running as well, which he did in the outfield Tuesday before taking swings.
“I’m moving around, trying to get a flow of full days of my makeshift spring training I guess,” Stanton said.
It was somewhat of a surprise to see Stanton travel to Cleveland with the Yankees instead of staying back in Tampa, where they played the Rays last weekend, to continue his rehab at the club’s player development complex.
But the veteran indicated it was important to him to be around the team, both to get used to the schedule of the regular season and be a resource to his teammates however possible.
“Keep a long schedule, keep in the meetings, in the routines, practice time, so I can just flow in and it won’t be anything different schedule-wise at least [when I return],” Stanton said.
During the Yankees’ second series of the season, after they staved off a sweep against the Diamondbacks in The Bronx, Aaron Judge mentioned Stanton speaking up in the room before the game, essentially with the message of defending their home turf.
“It’s the only way I can contribute now, so yeah, it’s important,” Stanton said. “I feel I must do it to stay engaged. And any info or messages or help I can give the guys, [I will].”
As he said, Stanton does not often take on-field batting practice even when he is healthy. But before almost every playoff game last October, including those here during the ALCS, Stanton was out there early hitting off the high-velocity pitching machine. It resulted in a monster postseason — all while playing through the pain of the tendinitis in his elbows, which was not publicly revealed until February — in which he hit .273 with seven home runs and a 1.048 OPS in 14 games. That included a home run in all three ALCS games the Yankees played against the Guardians at Progressive Field.
While that kind of impact is irreplaceable, the Yankees have been able to survive Stanton’s absence early this season thanks in large part to Ben Rice. The hot-hitting lefty swinger has taken the majority of the at-bats at DH, returning to the lineup Tuesday from an elbow contusion batting .288 with five home runs and a .988 OPS in 20 games.
“It’s been amazing,” Stanton said. “Even his outs are hard out. Knowledgeable approach overall. … I definitely saw spurts of this [last year], so it’s just putting it together over series and days and weeks is the difference. Whereas, it’s hard to get your gauge when you first come up and go through bumps all over. But the adjustments have been on point.”
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