New York Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton will make his 2025 season debut on Monday, June 16, at 7:05 p.m. EDT against the Los Angeles Angels in the first of a four-game home series, Andy Martino of SportsNet New York reported.
Giancarlo Stanton will be in the lineup tonight to make his season debut for the Yankees, league sources say.
— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) June 16, 2025
The Yankees made a corresponding move on June 16 of designating utility player Pablo Reyes for assignment on Monday.
Prior to tonight’s game, the Yankees made the following roster moves:
•Returned DH/OF Giancarlo Stanton (#27) from his rehab assignment and reinstated him from the 60-day injured list.
•Designated INF/OF Pablo Reyes for assignment.— Yankees PR Dept. (@YankeesPR) June 16, 2025
Stanton began a rehab assignment with Double-A Somerset on June 10 before being activated by the Yankees.
In three games with Somerset, Stanton hit .273/.333/.364 in 12 plate appearances, collecting three hits, one double, four RBI, one walk, and three strikeouts before being added to the active roster.
Last season, Stanton helped lead the Yankees to their 41st American League pennant before they fell to the Los Angeles Dodgers in five games in the 2024 World Series. He appeared in 14 postseason games and hit .273/.339/.709 across 55 at-bats, scoring nine runs with 15 hits, three doubles, seven home runs, 16 RBI, six walks, and 11 strikeouts.
During the 2024 regular season, Stanton played in 114 games, hitting .233 with 459 plate appearances. He posted a 0.7 WAR, with 97 hits, 20 doubles, 27 home runs, 72 RBI, 38 walks, 143 strikeouts, and a .773 OPS, helping the Yankees win the AL East with a 94-68 record.
He also missed part of the 2024 season after landing on the 10-day injured list on June 23 with a left hamstring strain. He was activated on July 29.
In 2023, Stanton played in 101 games with 415 plate appearances, batting .191 with 71 hits, 13 doubles, 24 home runs, 60 RBI, 41 walks, 124 strikeouts, and a .695 OPS. The Yankees finished that season 82-80 and missed the postseason.
Stanton has played 15 MLB seasons, debuting with the Florida/Miami Marlins from 2010–17 before being acquired by the Yankees on December 11, 2017, in a trade that sent Starlin Castro, Jorge Guzmán, and José Devers to Miami along with cash considerations.
In his career, Stanton has played 1,649 games with a 44.9 WAR over 6,896 plate appearances, hitting .257 with 1,551 hits, 305 doubles, 11 triples, 429 home runs, 1,103 RBI, 42 stolen bases, 776 walks, 1,963 strikeouts, and an .871 OPS.
His accolades include five All-Star selections (2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2022), the 2017 NL MVP, the 2024 ALCS MVP, two Silver Slugger Awards (2014, 2017), two NL Hank Aaron Awards (2014, 2017), and league-leading home run and RBI titles in 2014 and 2017.
The Yankees front office and manager Aaron Boone will have to evaluate the depth of the designated hitter with Stanton being back and Ben Rice putting up quality numbers.
Rice has started in 43 games as the designated hitter, and has played in a total of 62 games in the 2025 regular season with 239 plate appearances, pounding 48 hits, 11 doubles, one triple, 12 home runs, 26 RBI, three stolen bases, 20 walks, 52 strikeouts, and a .771 OPS.
Stanton also played for Team USA in the 2013 World Baseball Classic and helped the U.S. win its first WBC title in 2017 under manager Jim Leyland. If healthy, Stanton could again play a key role for Team USA under manager Mark DeRosa in the 2026 WBC, scheduled for March 6–11 at Daikin Park in Houston, Texas. Team USA will compete in Pool B alongside Mexico, Great Britain, Brazil, and Italy.
