Giancarlo Stanton officially opening season on injured list in Yankees blow

It was all but certain even before Giancarlo Stanton left camp last Monday to tend to a personal matter, but now it is official: The Yankees DH will begin the season on the injured list.

The team announced Saturday that Stanton will be out to start the year because of tennis elbow in both arms. After playing through the elbow injuries last season — including a monster playoff run — the 35-year-old slugger reported to camp having not swung a bat in three to four weeks because it flared back up over the offseason.

“Just running out of time,” manager Aaron Boone said after a 9-3 win over the Astros at Steinbrenner Field. “The biggest thing is getting him right. If that costs us a little bit on the front end, so be it. I do feel like we’ll get to a good spot with this. It’s a long year.”

Giancarlo Stanton is pictured during the Yankees’ spring training session on Feb. 17.

Stanton received a PRP injection in both elbows last week while in New York for personal reasons.

He remained in New York on Saturday while continuing his treatment regimen, but is expected to return to camp this week, a team spokesman said.

While the Yankees have already acknowledged that the pain in his elbows is something Stanton will have to manage throughout the year, they are trying to get it settled enough before he begins baseball activities.

Their hope is that it will help him miss a shorter amount of time now — though they are not putting a timetable on when they expect him to be able to play — than if he didn’t get this extended downtime now and tried to fight through it all year.

“He’s definitely frustrated, but we all want him back,” said Aaron Judge, who indicated he has spoken to Stanton since he left camp.

Giancarlo Stanton, pictured Feb. 17, will officially open the season on the injured list for the Yankees.

Boone talked with Stanton the day he flew out of Tampa but has not communicated with him “in a few days now.” The Yankees have said Stanton’s trip to New York was not related to his elbow injuries, but he got the PRP injection in both elbows while he was there.

“While there’s some downtime, just trying to make sure we do everything possible to give him the best chance long term throughout the season where it’s going to be that maintenance,” Boone said.

While losing Stanton to the injured list is nothing new — this marks the sixth straight season he will have had at least one IL stint, with 2018 being his only fully healthy year with the club — it is again a costly blow to their lineup.

That is especially the case this season with the Yankees trying to make up for losing Juan Soto, who left in free agency to sign with the Mets.

“It’s going to be tough because you can’t replace a guy like [Stanton],” Judge said. “Besides the numbers he’s going to put up, just the fear factor. Knowing you got No. 27 lurking on deck behind you, it kind of always helps you out. It’s going to be a tough blow, you can’t replace him. But we got a lot of good options here. Maybe it opens up some spots for some guys to get some quality at-bats for us early in the season.”

Without Stanton, the Yankees are not expected to have one player locked into the DH role, with Boone likelier to cycle a number of batters through there, led by Judge.

On those days, Boone could slide Cody Bellinger to right field and have Trent Grisham enter the lineup in center field.

As for the roster spot that will be available, the Yankees could opt to carry three catchers, especially if the two behind Austin Wells are Ben Rice and J.C. Escarra, with Rice a potential DH option against right-handers.

But, as Judge said, it will be impossible to replace the presence that Stanton offered in the middle of the lineup — particularly from the right side of the plate, as the Yankees have skewed more left-handed.

“He was so steady for us last year all year during the year,” Boone said. “Obviously, what he did in the postseason and just his presence in the middle. Especially in and around a lot of left-handed hitting, that right-handed presence in the middle, there’s no sugarcoating that. We miss that presence. But hopefully we get him right before too long and we’ll get him back in the middle [of the lineup] in due time.”