Yankees: NYY make weirdest move possible after Giancarlo Stanton injury

The New York Yankees made a bizarre move to replace their starting DH, Giancarlo Stanton.

UPDATE: Estrada has been sent back down and it’s believed Frazier will get the call before Tuesday’s game vs the Braves.

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The Yankees lost Giancarlo Stanton for what feels like the 1,000th time when he tweaked his hamstring after running on corrugated cardboard in Tampa on Saturday.

Frustrating, sure. Stanton seems to be made of the most destructible variety of glass. Destructi-glass. Prop glass from action movies that has to shatter whenever Liam Neeson enters an abandoned church, guns blazing.

But at least the Yankees have the DH depth to absorb Stanton’s injury very seamlessly. They’ve got the loser of the Mike Ford/Luke Voit battle at the MLB level. They can use it as a rotating rest spot for Aaron Judge. And, oh yeah, they’ve got two of the game’s best bat-first talents at the alternate site in Miguel Andujar and Clint Frazier.

Instead of either of those two, the Yankees called up … Thairo Estrada to replace Stanton on the roster.

Andujar must be bummed, but Frazier must be questioning every decision he’s made in the past few years. Every handshake snubbed. Every Instagram post published. This is absolutely confounding.

Even if you want to knock Frazier’s defense, you can’t deny that the bat is ready. Now, suddenly, there’s a Bat Only position available for the Masked Man, and the Yankees have still decided to instead re-install a utility infielder who couldn’t get an AB for the past several weeks here.

The only shred of hope when this move dropped is that Estrada, already on the team’s taxi squad, was already in the area, and will be demoted following Sunday’s game at the Trop, dropped off in Scranton on the way back from Yankee Stadium.

Luckily, Aaron Boone confirmed as much with his pregame quotes on Sunday, though he gave no further indication the team had tabbed Frazier, specifically, seemingly endorsing more flexibility.

But for now, this feels like another low-risk chance to build up Frazier’s confidence (or trade value!) in a showcase stretch wasted. Andujar could probably use some reps in Scranton first after scuffling at the start of the MLB season, and probably hasn’t earned an immediate recall.

Yankees: Giancarlo Stanton ‘Changing’ His Upper Body Won’t Fix Injury Issues

New York Yankees outfielder Giancarlo Stanton and strength coach Eric Cressey have changed his upper body, but that's not where his injuries occur.

But Frazier? There’s no reason, other than logistics, to keep Frazier down.