The elbow injuries that contributed to Giancarlo Stanton playing just 77 games last season remain an issue going into 2026, though he is not currently planning to start the year on the injured list.
Speaking to Randy Miller of NJ.com, Stanton explained that his elbow pain is so severe that even on his good days he struggles to open a bottle or a bag of chips.
“I can’t open a bottle,” Stanton said. “I can’t open a bag of chips … a bag of anything. That’s the way it is.”
It was almost at this exact time last year that the Yankees announced Stanton would open the regular season on the IL after receiving PRP injections in both of his elbows.
Stanton had been unable to swing a for several weeks at that point prior to the injections. He told reporters at the time that his elbow pain was so excruciating during the Yankees’ 2024 playoff run that resulted in them reaching the World Series.
The injury has been likened to tennis elbow, which the Mayo Clinic notes often occurs due to overuse of muscles and tendons in the elbow. Pain can travel from the outside of the elbow to the forearm and wrist, making it difficult to shake hands, grip objects or even hold a cup of coffee.
Even though surgery was an option for Stanton, which usually comes with a recovery time of a couple months, he explained to Miller that doing so wouldn’t change his ability to hit the baseball really hard:
“You get the surgery and you can go back to being in the general population in a few months, but my job is to put some of the most force into a batted ball. … That’s not going to be fixed in surgery, and I don’t care what any doctor says because they don’t know what’s going on. What’s written (about my elbows) is what me and the Yankees give you.”
The limited use of his elbows in regular life makes it even more remarkable that Stanton is still a high-level hitter. He hit .273/.350/.594 with 24 homers in 77 games last season.
Stanton hasn’t played more than 114 games in each of the past four seasons. He hit seven homers and slugged .709 in 14 games during the 2024 postseason.
There are two guaranteed years remaining on Stanton’s contract, plus a team option for 2028. He has hit .244/.326/.493 with 186 homers in 740 games with the Yankees since being acquired by the Miami Marlins in December 2017.