Giancarlo Stanton is back in New York tending to a personal issue, and whenever he returns, he will still have to work through the tennis elbows issue that has prevented him from swinging a bat in over a month.
Reading the tea leaves, Keith McPherson is bracing for the Yankees to be without their DH and most prominent source of power behind Aaron Judge for months, and if that’s the case, the Bombers will desperately need another source of offense to start the season.
“That sucks. If we are gonna miss Stanton and his power and his protection in the lineup, his leadership, that’s a blow,” Keith said. “Will the Yankees respond? Will they react and do something before Opening Day?
“I expect them to take the approach of ‘We’ll see how it goes, it’s a long season.’”
If that is indeed the approach the Yanks take (and it seems to be trending in that direction), Keith says fans should brace for some very underwhelming alternatives at DH for the foreseeable future, which would be neglecting the importance of the beginning of the season, something Judge harped on with the organization when they were negotiating his new contract.
“These games in April affect your regular season totals in September,” Keith said. “I think they’re gonna go with what they have internally and hope they win games…they don’t want to go out and spend any more money.
“You very well could see Dom Smith DHing. And I understand if you’re mad about that.”