Aaron Boone has consistently said he and the Yankees were targeting late July for Giancarlo Stanton to dust off his outfield glove, and it looks like that plan is on schedule.
The Yankee manager appeared on MLB Network Radio on Thursday morning and said there is a “good chance” Stanton will play a game in the outfield during New York’s four-game set against the Red Sox in Fenway, which begins on Thursday night.
“There's a good chance [Stanton] will play a game this weekend here at Fenway in the outfield,” Boone said. “The thought is getting him in a game here this weekend and then possibly a couple games in Miami.”
Boone has said in the past that he wants Stanton, used strictly as a DH so far this season, to be ready for interleague games on the road so his bat can remain in the lineup, and the Yanks head to Miami to take on the Marlins, Stanton’s former team, a week from Friday. Stanton hasn’t played outfield for the Yankees since the end of the 2019 season, a year where he played in just 18 games.
Stanton played just 13 games in the outfield that season, and 72 in 2018, his first season in pinstripes. He was a regular outfield and a Gold Glove candidate during his time in Miami.
Stanton poses an injury risk given his recent history, but given the Yankees’ depleted outfield and interleague games looming, the Yanks can’t afford to lose his bat. Even while struggling of late, he is second on the team with an .818 OPS, and third with 16 home runs.
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