Giancarlo Stanton Hits .300 Despite Severe Tennis Elbow
Giancarlo Stanton can’t open a bag of chips. He’s still hitting .300.
The New York Yankees confirmed this spring that their 36-year-old slugger is dealing with severe tennis elbow in both arms, a condition bad enough that routine tasks like tearing into a snack bag have become genuinely difficult. Per initial reporting on his early-season performance, the fanbase didn’t take that news quietly. A guy who can’t grip a chip bag is supposed to be driving baseballs at 110 mph? Fair question. Stanton’s answered it with his bat.
Through 13 games of the 2026 season, he leads the Yankees in hits with 15, carrying a .300 average, .364 OBP, .400 slugging, and a .764 OPS. Only Ben Rice ranks ahead of him in most of those numbers on this roster. For a 36-year-old managing a bilateral tendon problem, those aren’t just decent numbers. They’re embarrassing to the skeptics.
The Statcast data doesn’t soften the story either. Stanton ranks second in the entire league in average bat speed at 78.9 mph and first in fast swing rate at 94.1%, according to Baseball Savant. He’s already produced two batted balls at 115 mph or harder, and five total over 110 mph. His peak exit velocity this season sits at 116.3 mph, which ties him for third in baseball alongside players who are a decade younger.
“He’s still one of the most dangerous hitters in the game,” a Yankees official told reporters.
His strikeout rate is 24% right now. That’s actually encouraging context because his career strikeout rate sits around 30%. Small sample, sure, but the discipline is pointing the right direction before the expected regression pulls it back toward that career baseline.
Power hitters at 36 don’t usually lead the league in bat speed metrics. They don’t usually post exit velocities that compete with 25-year-old mashers. Stanton’s doing both, and he’s doing it while managing a condition the mechanics of tennis elbow page at the Mayo Clinic describes in terms of lateral epicondyle tendon inflammation that a full baseball swing should, theoretically, aggravate. Instead, he’s barreling pitches into the gaps four at a time.
The milestone context matters here. Stanton is at 496 career home runs. He hit just one in his first 13 games this season, which sounds slow, but availability and his raw power make the 500-homer club a legitimate 2026 target. That club currently has 28 members. Getting there while managing tennis elbow in both arms, while carrying an offense that’s sputtered out of the gate, would be something worth watching closely between now and October.
Yankees fans have had enough to worry about this spring. Stanton, at least, isn’t one of those things right now.