Yankees' World Series hopes take massive hit after Giancarlo Stanton injury twist

Ok, NOW it feels like the next Giancarlo Stanton injury update will be the final blow for the 2025 New York Yankees. Just a couple days ago, Brian Cashman revealed the team's star slugger was receiving platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections in both of his elbows and they'd be waiting to see how he responded.

Two days later, Stanton returned to spring training and spoke to the media, revealing a much worse potential diagnosis (though, to be fair, Cashman's update didn't exactly provide optimism). Stanton told reporters Saturday morning that his elbow injuries are "considered severe" and, if he needs surgery, it will end his 2025 season.

So, why don't you tell us? Does that sound like he's on the mend and the Yankees are getting more clarity about his potential timeline to return to baseball activities? With this coming right after Gerrit Cole's concerning elbow issues, nobody's feeling particularly good at the moment.

Though Stanton said he's working as hard as he can to get back into action, it's still all up in the air. He said he has to get to a point of comfort with the pain tolerance and then see what might be possible from there. Then again, he added he's "having troubling picking things up" due to grip weakness.

Stanton said he believes to have suffered the elbow ailments from making "bat adjustments" last season, but he didn't elaborate further on that. He did say, however, the personal issue that has also plagued his offseason is "in the process of being resolved."

Giancarlo Stanton Injury: Yankees slugger could be in danger of missing 2025 season

Stanton hasn't swung a bat since mid-January and is already starting the season on the injured list. Every single update since he's arrived to spring training has gotten worse, to varying degrees.

Since joining the Yankees in 2018, Stanton has averaged about a half-season per year, and that's not including the shortened 2020 campaign (when he also missed 37 of the 60 regular season games). But he's proven valuable despite the many injury woes that have been connected to his previously historic $325 million contract.

Throughout his postseason career with the Yanks, Stanton is hitting .265 with a mammoth .994 OPS. He's blasted 18 homers with 40 RBI in 41 games, and has largely been a driving force in October when healthy. Now there's a chance the Yankees get none of Stanton's benefits if this goes sideways.

Even though he's had some poor regular season showings due to inconsistent playing time, his mere presence in the lineup elevates those around him. And, like we said, when the team finally got to October, he would turn on the jets. But Yankees fans might not even be able to prepare for takeoff this time around if they're eventually hit with the update that this situation seems to be trending toward.