At the start of this week after Monday’s game, Giancarlo Stanton spoke for the first time in a while on his injury. After his “update” I think I speak for everyone when I say, “WTF?”

Giancarlo and the Yankees seem to be tight-lipped on what has become a mystery injury regarding Stanton. Back on April 1st, Stanton was placed on the IL with a left biceps strain but later in the month, to the surprise of many, Boone came out and said he was fully healed from his strain, but is dealing with “residual effects” in his left shoulder and would receive a cortisone shot.

So many questions

Firstly, I’m still wondering what “residual effects” means. Secondly, they have never actually come out and said what this shoulder injury is, one that caused Stanton to stay back in California after the Anaheim series to see a Specialist. Who was the specialist and what were they checking? Did this specialist have anything to say? Did they diagnose him with an actual injury? Did they run any tests? Did they go out to dinner? Is he a steak or salad guy? We need to know these things.

If this wasn’t shady enough, Stanton’s interview on Monday night just made me downright suspicious, questioning whether or not we’ll actually see Stanton any time soon. Stanton has always impressed me with how he’s handled the media since coming here — always answering questions, admitting when he sucks and being pretty open and honest with the media. But this time he seemed uncomfortable and awkward, almost frustrated with how to respond to questions he didn’t seem to know the answer to or, rather, didn’t want to answer. Watch the interview below and tell me I’m wrong.

Giancarlo Stanton says he will start swinging a bat again Tuesday but still has no specific timetable for his return. pic.twitter.com/JWiTqsPbcY — YES Network (@YESNetwork) May 7, 2019

Not the most optimistic and intuitive interview regarding an injury that “shouldn’t last too long” according to Stanton way back on April 1st.

A timetable for his return? I don’t know.

How does he feel overall? Just going to ramp it up and see how it goes.

Is he feeling any discomfort? No major update for you guys.

Call me cynical, but when someone asks you how you’re feeling and you can’t answer the question directly, something is up. When someone asks you if you’re feeling discomfort and you can’t answer yes or no, SOMETHING IS UP.

The fact they haven’t given us any definitive answers on what Stanton’s shoulder injury even is and the way he answered relatively simple yes or no questions with cryptic, short answers and zero excitement about ramping up activities to get back to playing ball, I’m officially raising the red flag.

Red Flag

And that red flag has me making one big assumption: Stanton is really hurt and they’re not even sure he can play.

He saw a specialist, received a cortisone shot, and is now ramping it up to “see how it goes” because I believe the Yankees are still trying to figure out if he can play through whatever it is that’s plaguing his shoulder. They’re trying to answer a question they most likely asked that mysterious specialist: Can he play through this?

Big assumption? Yes. I have no proof, no source, and no evidence that this is the case. Just a weird and cryptic interview by Stanton that had me scratching my head. Because if I’m a ballplayer who is feeling good physically and feeling confident in ramping up his rehab, you could bet I’d let you know and you could bet I’d be excited about it. Players get excited about coming back from injury and are usually confident in how rehab will go, but only when they’re confident in their health and only when they know they’re coming back.

We saw no such excitement in Stanton, and no such confidence either. Instead, we saw a trepidatious player whose answers to simple questions just made me ask more questions.

So what do you think? Do you agree with my outlandish take or do you think I’m being dramatic? Let me know on Twitter: @Karen_Veenstra.

As much as I love being right and want ya’ll to think I’m a genius, I won’t be offended if you call me dramatic. In fact, I hope that’s the case. Call me a drama queen because I genuinely hope I’m wrong.

But if I’m right? Well then…

Bend the knee.