Quick thoughts after Giancarlo Stanton lands on the injured list (and the Yankees trade for J.D. Davis)

UPDATE: Forget Garrett Cooper. The Yankees acquired the recently DFAed J.D. Davis and cash from the Athletics for minor league infielder Jordan Groshans, the team announced. Davis will presumably take Peraza's roster spot Tuesday. Davis hit only .236/.304/.366 (98 wRC+) with the A's this year, though he's a year removed from a .248/.325/.413 (104 wRC+) line and 18 homers. He can play first and third base too. Good pickup given the current roster situation. Groshans, 24, was an offseason waiver claim who's hitting .232/.310/.280 (68 wRC+) between Double-A and Triple-A this year. No big loss there. Nick Burdi was transferred to the 60-day injured list to clear a 40-man roster spot for Davis.

ORIGINAL POST: Giancarlo Stanton’s inevitable injury has arrived. He has a left hamstring strain, suffered running the bases Saturday night (video). Stanton was placed on the injured list Sunday and the Yankees are still awaiting the MRI results, though they know it’s bad enough that he’ll miss at least 10 days. Aaron Boone said he hopes it will be a short stay on the injured list, but when has Boone ever not said that about an injury?

“Hopefully it’s not too significant,” Boone told Dan Martin after Saturday’s win. “He came to me and needed to come out. Obviously he’s dealt with these kinds of things in the past.”

Peak Stanton is never coming back, but Giancarlo is hitting .246/.302/.492 (126 wRC+) with 18 home runs this season, and the Yankees will miss him. He was important lineup depth behind Aaron Judge and Juan Soto. He's the only player on the roster other than those two who can consistently hit the ball out of the park. The lineup has been top heavy all year and that will only be more true now.

Oswald Peraza, owner of a .178/.313/.215 (48 wRC+) Triple-A slash line, was called up to replace Stanton, and that might only be temporary. Boone told Greg Joyce that Peraza is “up for the day” and they’ll reevaluate things on the off-day Monday. The other day Robert Murray reported the Yankees have interest in former Yankee Garrett Cooper*, who’s already been cut loose by the Cubs and Red Sox this year.

* Who can forget Cooper’s 13 games with the 2017 Yankees? He hit .326/.333/.488 (114 wRC+)! What a trade tree: Tyler Webb for Garrett Cooper, Garrett Cooper for Mike King, Mike King for Juan Soto.

Starting Tuesday, the Yankees are tentatively scheduled to see two lefties in the next two games and four lefties in the next seven games. I would not be surprised to see Mr. Cooper in the lineup Tuesday night at Citi Field. To be clear, I have no inside info. It just seems like a fit. The Yankees had interest in Cooper even before Stanton’s injury and he’s a 1-to-1 replacement as a righty hitting DH (he can also play first base, another position of need).

Cooper, 33, slashed .206/.267/.299 (59 wRC+) with a 30.2 K% as a part-timer with the Cubs and Red Sox earlier this year. He hit .324/.375/.520 (129 wRC+) against lefties just last season, and the Yankees do need to improve against southpaws: 125 wRC+ vs. RHP and 104 wRC+ vs. LHP. Trent Grisham will no doubt see more playing time with Stanton out. Cooper could be a righty complement. We’ll see.

Josh Bell and Tommy Pham immediately jump to mind as trade possibilities should the Yankees decide to go that route. It shouldn’t be too hard to find a DH type. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a minor injury with Stanton. He always seems to miss more time than expected, and when he returns, it often takes him a few weeks to get locked in at the plate. (And he never did get locked back in after his injuries the last two years.)

This is where Jasson Domínguez’s oblique injury really hurts. The unspoken plan was plugging El Marciano in whenever an outfielder or Stanton (likely Stanton given his history) got hurt, and now they can’t do that. This was the perfect opportunity to slot in Domínguez and let him go. That’s no longer an option. Major bummer. I guess the Yankees could try Agustin Ramirez? Maybe they will after he gets a few dozen Triple-A at-bats under his belt, like Ben Rice.

There is no replacing Stanton’s production in the short-term. The Yankees need DJ LeMahieu and Gleyber Torres specifically to step up their game, something we’ve been waiting for them to do for weeks, and also Alex Verdugo. Did you know Verdugo is hitting .242/.277/.388 (88 wRC+) since May 1st? The Yankees need Rice to hit too, though it’s not fair to expect the rookie to carry the bottom of the lineup.

We’ll see what happens, but Peraza’s call up feels temporary – how many more light-hitting infielders do the Yankees need? – and the interest in Cooper existed even before Stanton got hurt. Cooper doesn’t have to be a permanent solution. The Yankees just need a stopgap until Giancarlo returns or they come up with someone better. Stanton will be missed. Fingers crossed this truly is a short-term injury.