Giancarlo

Stanton

He will play Thursday. Stanton is healthy, but the Yankees seem to think their better off with Alex Verdugo in the outfield and Aaron Judge at DH in these matchups against tough right-handers. Stanton is in a 4-for-34 slump at the moment, though he did go 3-for-8 with two RBI and three walks against the Red Sox over the weekend.

That will allow both Alex Verdugo and Jasson Domínguez start in the outfield. Aaron Boone was forced to reveal the plan tonight because of questions regarding Domínguez’s absence.

Aaron Boone was very short on specifics on how exactly he intends to integrate Domínguez, although expectations are that Alex Verdugo will typically draw the short straw. Tonight, thought, Stanton is getting a rest, with Aaron Judge DHing and Verdugo in left field. Stanton is currently in a 1-for-19 slump.

Stanton’s home run was his 24th of the season. He hit a solo shot off Miles Mikolas in the second inning. Stanton has six home runs and 15 RBI in his last 18 games. He’s hitting .244 with an .800 OPS and 61 RBI on the year.

Stanton came off the bench to face Cardinals righty reliever Andrew Kittredge with the bases loaded in the eighth inning and wound up missing a potential game-tying grand slam by a couple of week, settling for a bases-clearing double off the center-field wall instead.

Stanton took Nick Sandlin deep in the fifth with two runners on. The 34-year-old slugger has driven in 55 runners over his 86 games while adding 23 homers. It’s also the 423rd homer of his MLB career, if you are interested in that sort of thing.

It appears to be nothing more than a routine night off for the 34-year-old slugger as the Yankees attempt to keep him healthy for the remainder of the season. Aaron Judge will function as the team’s designated hitter in his place while Trent Grisham patrols center field for the Bombers.

Stanton clobbered a mammoth 451-foot (112.2-mph EV) two-run shot off of Gerson Garabito in the eighth inning that pulled the Yankees to within six runs at 9-3. With his two-hit effort, the 34-year-old slugger is now slashing .245/.298/.486 with 19 homers and 48 RBI.

Stanton will be back in action Wednesday. The Yankees are going to load manage the slugger after he came off the injured list Monday after missing a month with a hamstring strain. Assuming Stanton stays healthy, he should be in the lineup on a more consistent basis in the coming days.

It’s noteworthy that Stanton is slotting into the fifth spot because that means Austin Wells will continue to hit clean-up for now. With Jazz Chisholm also hitting sixth, the Yankees lineup is now deeper than it’s been in months. This is great news for Austin Wells’ fantasy value as long as he can hold onto that.