Giancarlo Stanton injury update: Yankees slugger could 'potentially' begin rehab assignment next week

Stanton has been out all season with injuries in both elbows

Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton has been out for the duration of the 2025 season due to injuries in both of his elbows. These last few weeks, he's been steadily making progress and on Thursday, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said that Stanton is taking live batting practice the rest of the week and "potentially" could start a minor-league rehab assignment next week (via Newsday). 

Minor-league rehab assignments vary in length but are capped at 30 days. Considering Stanton has been out all season, he'll likely need a lengthier stint than someone who has only missed a few weeks of games. There's a build to major-league action both in timing and stamina. 

Stanton is often hampered by injuries, but when he is in the Yankees lineup, he's a major difference-maker. He only appeared in 114 games last regular season, but still clubbed 27 homers and drove home 72 runs. In 14 playoff games, he hit .273/.339/.709 with seven homers and 16 RBI, serving as the Yankees' best power threat despite being teammates with Aaron Judge and Juan Soto.

The Yankees enter Thursday with a 5 ½-game lead in the AL East. They've gotten good production from Ben Rice in the DH spot while Paul Goldschmidt plays first base, so Stanton needing DH at-bats does create a bit of a logjam, but that can be filed under "nice problem to have" given the ability of these three hitters. 

Another thing to watch: Stanton is the active MLB leader with 429 career home runs. Getting to 500 has long been considered a major benchmark and more often than not clears the way for induction to the Hall of Fame. Stanton is 35 years old and signed through 2027. This could really end up being close.