A half-hour before Yankees batting practice, with Yankee Stadium still quiet and empty, Giancarlo Stanton was already at work on the field with a coach.
He was taking swings off a pitching machine and easing into things by chopping soft grounders and lofting shallow fly balls one-handed before Wild Card Series Game 2. Then Stanton took a more normal swing and drove a ball over the right-field wall.
It was the kind of prep that fit the moment: Stanton was getting ready for a possible first big league plate appearance in more than five months after finally returning from strains in both calves that kept him on the injured list from late April through the end of the regular season.
The Yankees carried only 10 pitchers on their 26-man Wild Card Series roster, which meant Stanton was included strictly as a pinch-hit weapon.
He nearly got used in that role during Tuesday night’s 9-0 Game 1 win over the Red Sox.
“I almost hit Big G and then changed my mind,” manager Aaron Boone said.
Boone was considering Stanton in the bottom of the seventh with the Yankees up 2-0 and lefty reliever Alec Gambia coming on for Boston. The idea was to pinch-hit Stanton for Spencer Jones, taking advantage of the righty-lefty matchup.
But Boone backed off. Jones had been productive against left-handers, hitting nearly .400 in left-on-left at-bats as a rookie. Boone also didn’t want to end up with Trent Grisham in center field on his first day back from the injured list.
“With the lead there, obviously I’ve liked what Spencer’s done against lefties,” Boone said. “Grish having not been in the game, I just changed my mind on it.
I felt like, ‘No, let’s hold back (on Stanton) for a better leverage spot if I need that later, if God forbid they get back in the game. So I just felt like it wasn’t the time.”
The decision worked out. Jones opened the inning with a single and sparked a rally that pushed the Yankees ahead 4-0 going to the eighth. Then the offense kept rolling, with New York adding five more runs in the next inning and Ben Rice finishing the burst with a grand slam.
Boone even considered another path to getting Stanton into the game in the eighth.
“I could have hit (Stanton) for Rice there,” Boone said with a laugh.
Stanton’s best shot at an at-bat may come in Game 2. If the Yankees finish off the Red Sox and sweep the series, their Division Series roster against the Rays would likely include more pitchers, which could squeeze Stanton off the club because his role is limited to pinch-hitting. He isn’t ready to play the outfield, and Rice is locked in as the everyday DH.
“If a situation easily enough presents itself that’s one thing,” Boone said.
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