At various points across Tuesday and Wednesday night, Giancarlo Stanton stood in the Yankees dugout with a bat in hand, ready to take his shot.
It just never came.
After the veteran slugger missed five-plus months with three different calf strains, the Yankees carried Stanton on their roster for the AL wild-card series to potentially combat the Red Sox’s toughest lefties as a pinch hitter. Instead, they were able to do it without him, finishing a sweep on Wednesday with a 9-2 win over the Red Sox in The Bronx.
It remains to be seen whether the Yankees will keep Stanton on the roster for the ALDS against the Rays — especially if Aaron Judge can get back in time from his own calf strain — though it seems doubtful given that they will need to even out their balance after carrying 16 position players and 10 pitchers for this opening round.
It looked like Stanton might get his chance in the sixth inning Wednesday, when the Red Sox brought in lefty Garrett Crochet, who like Stanton had not appeared in a game since late April.
But Aaron Boone stuck with his left-handed hitters and it paid off, with Spencer Jones, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Trent Grisham playing roles in the rally against Crochet that turned into a six-run inning.
In Game 1, Boone had nearly used Stanton to pinch hit for Jones to lead off the seventh inning against lefty reliever Alec Gamboa before deciding to stay put, which gave way to Jones starting another rally.
“Hopefully the threat that he is can play a factor for us in this series,” Boone said before Game 1.
In the end, though, Stanton proved to be just that — a threat, one that never came into play.
Thanks to the sweep, the Yankees will have their pick between Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodón for who should start Game 1 of the ALDS on Saturday, with Cam Schlittler expected to start Game 2.
“We’ll talk about that,” Boone said. “Obviously, Gerrit’s lined up for that. Carlos is very much in play for that. We have a ton of confidence in both guys. I think they’re both throwing the ball really well. That will be what we do here these next couple of days as we get ready.”
Clarke Schmidt, who came back from Tommy John surgery to pitch in one game before landing back on the injured list last week with right biceps neuritis, is shut down for the rest of the postseason, according to Boone.
Ryan Weathers (left forearm flexor strain) threw a bullpen session Wednesday afternoon, keeping him in play to join the roster in the ALDS.
