Yankees slugger making another trip to IL, expected to miss four weeks

New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton has been having a resurgence this season and once again performing like a legitimate middle of the order power bat. 

Unfortunately for both him and the Yankees he is headed back to the injured list with a strained hamstring, with an expected timetable for return in four weeks. 

It is a frustrating development for both Stanton and the Yankees as his entire career with the team has been marred by injuries. Since joining the team at the start of the 2018 season, he has appeared in more than 110 games in just two of the six seasons and has largely been relegated to DH duties in recent years because he is not physically able to play the outfield like he once could. 

He has missed 266 out of a possible 708 games the past two seasons (nearly 40% of the Yankees' games). 

Stanton went through an extremely intensive offseason program to try and improve his health and availability for this season, and entering the weekend the results had been promising. 

He had already hit 18 home runs, had a slugging percentage closing in on .500 for the season and an OPS+ of 120 (with 100 being league average).

Along with Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Anthony Volpe and Alex Verdugo he was providing the Yankees with some serious offensive depth that has helped them race out to being one of baseball's best teams. 

They concern here with Stanton isn't just that he is back on the IL, but that it might be something that lingers after he returns. Given his recent history there is no reason to believe this will be the last of his injury concerns this season.