Yankees already hit with troubling Giancarlo Stanton injury news at spring training

It's early, but very rarely can New York Yankees fans enjoy their team arriving at spring training without deflating news, and it's beyond exhausting at this point. It feels like we're not asking a whole lot to get a little reprieve here.

But is anybody surprised one of the first injury victims is Giancarlo Stanton, who apparently has "issues" with "both" of his elbows?! Both?! Couldn't just be one, singular elbow? How does every year feature some new, incomprehensible turn of events like this?

Manager Aaron Boone took the podium on Sunday afternoon in Tampa and answered questions from the media, revealing this news and sending the fanbase into a minor panic since Stanton might not be ready for Opening Day.

The bright side? Almost everybody understands Stanton is likely to miss around two months of a given season. And that's being generous. He's averaged 80 games played per year in every full season since he joined the Yankees in 2018, and he missed 37 games during the shortened COVID campaign.

But it would've been great to have him ready to go full speed for the start of 2025 with this new-look roster, which is going to need all the help it can get with protection. Stanton's presence changes everything with the lineup dynamic.

Yankees News: Giancarlo Stanton already dealing with injuries at spring training

Fans were recently talking about how the Yankees were "one Giancarlo Stanton injury away" from Trent Grisham becoming the team's DH. And they weren't wrong! Only problem with that? Grisham is also injured, having suffered a hamstring issue during his offseason training.

He's at least on the mend, but hamstring injuries this early in the year are never a good sign, and they tend to linger. Either way, the situation is not good. Stanton's backup isn't good, and if Stanton's backup is injured too, then ... what will happen?

The additions of Cody Bellinger and Paul Goldschmidt must make an impact right away (or at least early on) for this team to avoid disaster. Anthony Volpe, Austin Wells and Jasson Dominguez taking "the next step" in stride and without major disruptions are equally important. Stanton missing time from the jump could turn everything upside down. The next line of defense after Stanton and Grisham? Ben Rice, Oswaldo Cabrera, DJ LeMahieu, Everson Pereira and Oswald Peraza. It's just bleak.

Knowing how often they suffer injuries, the Yankees neglected depth yet again this offseason. We're praying it's not going to play a bigger role than we're imagining, but there's hardly a reason to be optimistic until we see tangible changes.

Maybe Stanton's injuries aren't that serious and maybe he'll be ready sooner. But this is not the news anybody wanted upon position players reporting to spring training.