HOUSTON -- The Yankees were without one of their top power bats in ALCS Game 2. Giancarlo Stanton missed the game -- a series-tying win for the Astros -- due to a quad injury. Stanton suffered the injury running out an infield single in the second inning of Game 1.
"Kind of injured his quad (Saturday) night," manager Aaron Boone said Sunday. "Hoping that it's something that with today and the off-day (Monday), that he would be back in play for Game 3. We'll just kind of see how these next 48 hours unfold."
As of Monday, the Yankees were unsure about Stanton's status for Tuesday afternoon's Game 3 in the Bronx.
No significant update yet regarding Giancarlo Stanton’s status. He hit in the cages yesterday but Aaron Boone said it is too soon to know if he will be able to play in Game 3.
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) October 14, 2019
Various injuries, including a torn biceps and a knee sprain, limited Stanton to 18 games during the regular season. He returned in mid September and started in left field in all four postseason games prior to Sunday night, though the Yankees have been pinch-running and removing him for defense in the late innings.
Cameron Maybin, who has been replacing Stanton defensively this postseason, got the start in Stanton's place in Game 2. Maybin hit .285/.364/.494 in 82 regular season games. Aaron Hicks is on the ALCS roster after missing the final two months of the regular season with an elbow injury, but the Yankees consider him more of a bench option following the long layoff.
New York can replace Stanton on its ALCS roster due to injury, but, by rule, he would be ineligible for the next round. The Yankees figure to go day-to-day with Stanton rather than potentially lose him for the World Series. Given the team's infield situation, limiting Stanton to DH going forward would complicate the lineup.
The Yankees placed a record number of players on the injured list during the regular season, and their 2,638 man games lost to injury were far and away the most in baseball. Despite that, they won 103 games and the AL East because injury fill-ins like Maybin, Urshela, and Mike Tauchman were off-the-charts good.
