Giancarlo Stanton looks great hitting off machine as Yankees roster decision looms
What had existed only behind the scenes was brought to the forefront Thursday.Here was real evidence one of the great X factors not just for the club but for the entire postseason field was developing into a legitimate option. For the first time, in this round of injury rehab at least, Giancarlo Stanton stood in the batter’s box at Yankee Stadium and looked like himself while facing velocity from a machine. Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Greg Joyce about the inside buzz on the Yankees.
Three calf strains later, the most recent just over a month ago, the prodigious Yankees slugger is trying to become a rosterable bat — even if he would only be used in pinch-hit scenarios, which Aaron Boone has hinted at — and is hoping to become a weapon for a wild-card playoff round that begins Tuesday. “[Stanton] looks great,” said Trent Grisham, who also hit off the machine as he completes his own rehab from a hamstring strain. The hurdle Stanton could not get over all summer was making turns.Twice he graduated to the last step of the buildup process — running the bases — and twice he suffered subsequent calf strains, the first setback coming in a different spot in his left leg and the second in his right leg. But with the stay-ready group at an otherwise empty ballpark at the Yankees’ Double-A Somerset affiliate Wednesday, Stanton, who had been running for weeks, ran the bases for what Boone believed to be the first time in this rehab cycle. The Yankees know better than to look too far ahead with Stanton, considering his legs have not cooperated each time he approached an activation this season, but he betrayed no issues a day later and has been able to swing for much of the downtime. “He’s been hitting all summer, whether it’s Trajekt, live arms and things like that,” Boone said before the Yankees finished a series against the Rays in The Bronx.
“So he’s been doing a lot along the...