Despite being one of hottest hitters in the sport for over a month, Giancarlo Stanton wasn’t in Wednesday’s lineup for the Yankees against the Nationals.
It’s part of the math the Yankees and their resurgent slugger are using to help keep him healthy and productive — especially as he’s added playing right field on a somewhat regular basis back to his game while Aaron Judge is restricted to DH duties with a right flexor strain.
“Part of the reason this has gone as well as it has is some of those built in [days off],’’ Aaron Boone said of Stanton’s performance prior to Wednesday’s 11-2 win over the Nationals. “[This is] a day game after a night game. We’d choose between this one and [Thursday] in Chicago.”
Stanton was available off the bench in a pinch-hitting role and said getting back in the outfield has been “fun.”
“Every night it’s going through and talking with [Stanton] to try to do the best for everyone,’’ Boone said.
Stanton has also been keeping the ball off the ground more, with a career-low 31.8 percent ground ball rate.
His return to dominance has partially coincided with Judge’s first extended slump of the season — one that showed signs of ending in Wednesday’s win, when Judge drilled his 41st homer of the season.
While Judge has struggled since his return from the IL — something Boone blamed on getting his timing back after being out for 10 days — the AL MVP favorite’s downturn began before the injury.
Though Boone said there’s still no date set for a potential return to the outfield for Judge, he wasn’t concerned about his drop-off at the plate and didn’t believe it was a product of his elbow injury.
Prior to the game, the manager said Judge’s timing “was probably a tick off. We know with Aaron, it’s just a matter of time until he gets going.”
Ryan McMahon homered in the Yankees’ nine-run third as he looks to shake off what’s been a rocky start for him at the plate since being traded from Colorado.
“Finally,’’ McMahon said of his first home run in The Bronx. “I’ve sucked. It’s not a secret. I’m trying to get going,” Jasson Domínguez, who has also struggled, drove in a pair of runs and has eight RBIs in his last eight games.
Ryan Yarbrough said he felt good after Tuesday’s rehab start, in which he threw 63 pitches for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
Boone said it would likely be the right-hander’s final rehab appearance and following Wednesday’s win in The Bronx, Yarbrough — who’s been working his way back from a right oblique strain — said he wasn’t sure what the next step would be, but he would be with the team in Chicago.
Paul Blackburn pitched the final two innings in the win over the Nationals and doesn’t have any minor league options.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
