How The Yankees Should Navigate Giancarlo Stanton's Return

**Craig Carton** (0:00)
Speaking of baseball, some very positive news for you diehard Yankee fans. Number one, I saw a video today of Mr. Bellinger shagging some flies in left field. Very, you know, kind of lazy shagging. Nothing crazy, but he's out there fielding his position.
And the video that's really taking the internet by storm, also Yankee related, I actually saw Giancarlo Stanton running.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:32)
Oh, and he was running.

**Craig Carton** (0:32)
And not running in a straight line.

**SPEAKER_3** (0:34)
No.

**Craig Carton** (0:35)
Running the base is like a nine year old in little league.

**SPEAKER_4** (0:38)
He looked great.

**Craig Carton** (0:38)
He of course did miss first base on the video I saw.

**SPEAKER_4** (0:42)
Was there a chance they told him not to hit the base in case he slipped?

**Craig Carton** (0:44)
By the way, please tell me that's not, that's what happened. I bet you there's a chance. Where they said, make the turn.

**SPEAKER_4** (0:50)
Don't touch the base.

**Craig Carton** (0:51)
But don't touch the bag. I'm going to punch you if that's the case. But look, for all the nonsense with the Yankees, and the fact that they have actually won most of the series they've played since the All-Star break, although being barely over 500 that same time frame, the reality is that the news does keep getting better in regards to player availability.

**SPEAKER_4** (1:15)
Yeah, no, look, he's running. And I don't know, you saw the video like I did.

**SPEAKER_3** (1:19)
He ain't getting better than that.

**Craig Carton** (1:21)
No.

**SPEAKER_4** (1:21)
Activate him now. What are we waiting for?

**Craig Carton** (1:23)
Right.

**SPEAKER_4** (1:23)
Like, let's get some of the bats. Let's get them activated. Bring them up as soon as humanly possible. But yeah, no, look, the hope is he comes back. Ballinger comes back. Judge comes back. I mean, that's the season, right? We talked about it yesterday.
The pitching is good enough. They just need a semblance of an offense. And so far, they've been unable to get it. They need those three guys back. If Stanton's running like that, and in all jokes aside, watching him run, that looked top speed for him.

**Craig Carton** (1:46)
Yeah.

**SPEAKER_4** (1:47)
That was, he looked-

**Craig Carton** (1:48)
He's a light jog for most guys, but for him-

**Chris McMonigle** (1:49)
But that's all he does.

**SPEAKER_4** (1:51)
So he looked like that was a normal running around the bases for me. So I would call him up, I would activate him as soon as possible.

**Chris McMonigle** (1:57)
I'm not sure what they're waiting for.

**SPEAKER_4** (1:58)
I don't know what else they're waiting for.

**Craig Carton** (1:59)
Because we know he's taking live batting practice since we're done.

**Chris McMonigle** (2:01)
Yeah.

**Craig Carton** (2:02)
That's over a week ago now.

**SPEAKER_4** (2:03)
Yep.

**Craig Carton** (2:04)
So to me, the last thing for him to do is exactly what I saw him do today. But by the way, not impressive, obviously. He's a professional athlete that cannot run.

**SPEAKER_4** (2:13)
Can't run.

**Craig Carton** (2:14)
But listen, he's become a home run slash singles hitter.

**SPEAKER_4** (2:18)
Yeah.

**Craig Carton** (2:19)
That's what he is. Yeah. Because he's not taking second base.

**SPEAKER_4** (2:23)
I don't know where the ball's hit. He would have to bounce over the wall to get a double.

**Chris McMonigle** (2:28)
Yeah. That is absolutely true.

**Craig Carton** (2:29)
I do think from a Yankee fan perspective, as Seattle comes into town tonight for three games, while it's not going to be a fix for this series, I think it's clearly obvious now that Stanton and Bellinger are coming back before the end of the month.

**Chris McMonigle** (2:46)
Is that fair to say?

**SPEAKER_4** (2:47)
No, absolutely.

**Craig Carton** (2:48)
Then the question becomes, let's do one at a time.
Well, put Judge to the side just for a second. So let me do one at a time here with you. Let's say Stanton gets Greenlet to come back, let's say after the series against Seattle.

**SPEAKER_4** (3:00)
Okay.

**Craig Carton** (3:00)
All right. So he's back for this upcoming weekend series.

**SPEAKER_4** (3:03)
In Toronto, I believe.

**Craig Carton** (3:04)
In Toronto against the Blue Jays, okay? He's obviously DH-ing.

**SPEAKER_4** (3:08)
100%.

**Craig Carton** (3:09)
Walk me through real quick your opinion before Bellinger comes back and forget about Judge for a second.

**SPEAKER_4** (3:14)
Right.

**Craig Carton** (3:14)
Stanton comes back Friday night, he's your DH and he's batting sixth. Yeah. Walk me through your lineup.

**SPEAKER_4** (3:25)
I mean, it depends on matchups, but Garcia and Rice both can't play. Which is what I'm getting at. I know. I get you. That's it. That's the question.