The Injury Bug

By Eddie Castro
With just about three weeks until the baseball season begins, the New York Yankees are poised to have a productive season in 2025. According to CBSsports.com, the Yankees have the second favorite odds to win the World Series at (+700) behind the reigning champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

The team had a pretty decent off-season putting together some good quality players after Juan Soto decided to take his talents across the bridge to join the New York Mets. Two weeks into Spring Training games and the Yankees are already dealing with some key injuries that could very well make this 2025 campaign a very challenging one.

Last week, the team received news that their No.1 pitching prospect, Chase Hampton, will need Tommy John surgery for his pitching elbow. Hampton was expected to start the season in AAA and would have been an option for the team to bring up in September for a potential playoff run. Pitcher Luis Gil was diagnosed with a lat strain. During Gerrit Cole’s absence last year, Gil was, without a doubt, the team’s best pitcher.

He will resume baseball activities in the next six weeks. Giancarlo Stanton will start the season on the Injured List due to significant pain in both elbows (tennis elbow). Stanton had arguably his best moments as a Yankee in last year’s playoffs.

In 14 games in the postseason, he had a batting average of .273,15 hits,7 of those being home runs to go along with 16 RBIs.

He won his first American League Championship Series MVP. Losing him to begin the season will really hurt the Yankees offensively. To add to the team’s injury list, D.J. LeMahieu, who is coming off a tough injury-plagued 2024 season, suffered yet another setback with what’s being called a “tweak” to his left calf.

Since winning the batting title in 2020, Lemahieu has struggled to stay healthy and find that same magic that made him one of the best hitters in the game.
The Yankees will do their best to weather the Storm with these current injuries and piece things together when it comes to their starting lineup and pitching rotation.

With Gil being out perhaps until July, Marcus Stroman will probably be the guy to slide into the fifth spot in the rotation. As far as the offense goes, one player that has been a standout so far in spring training is former met Dom Smith. If Smith makes the team, he could be one option at designated hitter until Stanton returns. He also has the ability to play first base which will give Paul Goldschmidt a rest every now and then. Despite all of the injuries, this Yankees team still has the capability of still being competitive until those key players return.

It is still a possibility (a small one) that General Manager Brian Cashman can get a trade done and bring in another bat. It will be very interesting to see how Manager Aaron Boone puts together the lineup card. The Yankees host the Milwaukee Brewers on March 28th.

Sports Notes: (Basketball) The Knicks will begin a 5-game west coast trip tonight as they head to LA to play Luka Doncic, LeBron James, and the Los Angeles Lakers. The Brooklyn Nets return to the Barclay’s Center to battle Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors tonight. (Baseball) we are just three weeks away till we get baseball!