Chapter 1: Why is Giancarlo Stanton's health a concern during Spring Training?
A couple of things, Willie. Just, well, really one specific thing, I suppose, before we get back into a couple of other things that we've gone over through the morning. And that is Giancarlo Stanton and the Yankees, from this standpoint... By no means what John Carlos Stanton does in spring training doesn't mean anything at all.
John Carlos Stanton here is essentially, at this point in his career, you hope to get 100 games out of him. I don't even know if that number is enough, but you hope to get 100 games out of him. You hope he can stay healthy enough to compete, and you hope that he can be that postseason-dominating player prior to last season that he has been. That having been said, though...
Dealing with what he's dealing with in the arms, to see him hit a baseball yesterday, twice, the way he does, it reminds you. And he's had a great spring, again, for whatever it's worth. It reminds you, though, of, God, how good this guy, when he is at the top of his game, is and can be.
And when you think about the years we've watched with him and Judge, at times it's been unbelievable, at times it's been underwhelming. But man, the ceiling, even at this point in his career, is still pretty high. And I guess my question to a former athlete like yourself, or an athlete like yourself, what is it about...
the grind of the baseball season do you think that keeps some guys from being able to play every day and whereas others like a Francisco Lindor is out there for 162 of them what do you think the grind on the body is you know for why it's so different for from guy to guy basically
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Chapter 2: What factors contribute to Stanton's ability to play consistently?
I think it pretty much comes down to your ability to manage pain. Right. Like you talk about staying last year and missed two months last season, rather the first two months of the season. And, you know, he's opted out of surgery because he realized it is what it is. This is where I am in my career. And as a ballplayer, when the older you get, the more.
You know, sometimes you realize whether you realize it or not, things become fleeting from your game is really comes down to our what can I manage? What can I control in my day to day where I can still show up and be effective and have an impact? And I think that's where Stanton's at right now.
He just realizes like, hey, there's nothing that they can do from an operation standpoint that's going to, you know. make me better, right? Like this is just where I'm at. And if I have trouble opening a bag of chips, so be it. But I have to attack, I have to show up each and every day and do the necessary rehab and the things I need to do so I can at least have some type of impact.
And it's tough.
Chapter 3: How does Stanton's pain management affect his performance?
And it's tough because I think obviously when you see him hit the ball and you see the way he, what he can do, it just makes you dream. It makes you dream of what the season can be and how much he can help this ball club. But it comes down to his pain management. And right now things look up and up. Yeah, for sure. And you're right.
I mean, when he gets going, it's home runs that are just majestic. And you think about him and Judge, as we've seen for the last several years, the thing about opening up the potato chip bag and the injury, and trust me, at this point in my life, I am no athlete. Matter of fact, I am big, sloppy, and messy at this point, and it has not gone well for me. You're still golfing, Jerry.
I mean, you're out there. You're moving. So I am, and I will. I haven't been because the stupid weather stinks, but I will be soon. But on that note, so I have the issue in my right elbow, which I think he's gotten both of them, which is what we're talking about.
Chapter 4: What insights can we gain from comparing Stanton to other players?
And I will tell you, you talk about pain management. That is certainly an issue. But I also think at that level, whether it's pain management or is it a confidence thing, to where he doesn't feel he can do what he needs to do to be the best version of him.
Like, for me, just hacking it around on a golf course, you pull a shot, bad shot, a little bit of pain on that shot, all right, I'm not playing for millions of dollars. This guy's playing for tens of millions of dollars, and I wonder if it's more about confidence, as crazy as that sounds, than it would be pain management at this point. No, I think his confidence is still there.
I think it's just... He understanding that this is where I'm at, acknowledging it, realizing that he also has to attack it each and every day different from what he probably didn't have to do a couple years prior. And I think right now Stanton's at the position where, you know, because of the chronic elbows and I think because of...
I think all of us constantly kind of being on him about not being available when we really need him or being spotty. I think he's like, it is what it is. I can only do so much. And it's tough. Right now, we talk about you golfing, Jerry.
Chapter 5: How does age impact an athlete's performance and injury management?
I'm doing jujitsu. I already have a partial tear in my rotator cuff, and I banged my knee up. From the working out. From rolling, right? Rolling with other grown men in their 40s who, you know, we kind of have a little bit of Harry High School in our head. Like, man, I can still get out there and get it.
But you acknowledge, like, my wife was like, I was telling her, she was like, are you hurt again? Didn't I tell you if you're going to do this, I don't want to see you hurt all the time? I'm like, you think I show up to practice or a session wanting to get hurt? It is what it is.
I have to accept that there's a chance when I walk out of here, I'm not going to be in worse shape than how I walked in. But I realized the art to staying in it is how I handle my pain, how I manage it. So I've got a chiropractor. I've got more doctors now than I've had when I actually had a helmet on my head. I've got a chiropractor.
Chapter 6: What strategies does Stanton use to cope with his injuries?
I got a dry needle guy. I got a cupping guy. I got just this thing to keep me on the mat and for me to participate. And so it's all about what you're willing to do to stay in the fight. And I think that's where Giancarlo is right now. He's willing to do whatever it takes. And he also understands that, listen, I'm not going to continue to entertain getting an operation.
I'm not going to continue to entertain certain things that I know is just going to keep me out of the lineup. I just got to manage the pain better, and hopefully that's enough.