Yankees' Giancarlo Stanton: 'Gotta Change the Narrative' After Repeated Injury Woes

New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton said he hopes to "change the narrative" amid the injury issues that have plagued his career in the Bronx.

"I have to stay on the field," Stanton told reporters. "The start/stopping is not ideal. I need to play and not be on the sidelines."

Stanton was limited to 101 games last season and has missed significant time in four of his six seasons with the Yankees.

When healthy, Stanton remains one of the hardest-hitting players in baseball. His max exit velocity has been in the top one percent of all players in each of his nine MLB seasons, and his average exit velocity has ranked in the top one percentile each of the last three years.

That said, Stanton also strikes out a ton and does little when the ball isn't flying over the fence. He hit .191/.275/.420 with 24 home runs and 60 RBI last season. His .219 expected batting average was one of the worst numbers in baseball among everyday players.

The Yankees front office has also seemingly given up on Stanton being healthy. General manager Brian Cashman said he's operating under the assumption that Stanton will get hurt moving forward.

"We try to limit the time he's down," Cashman told reporters in November. "But I'm not gonna tell you he's gonna play every game next year because he's not. He's going to wind up getting hurt again more likely than not because it seems to be part of his game."

Cashman later clarified his marks, but the damage was done. Stanton's agent, Joel Wolfe, criticized the general manager in a statement in November. Stanton made it clear in a few words he was unhappy with the contents of Cashman's comments Monday.

"He knows my reaction to that," Stanton said.

With four years remaining on his contract, Stanton will be in New York moving forward whether he's in the lineup or not.