Giancarlo Stanton's first game against the Marlins will have to wait
There aren’t too many spring training dates worth circling. The New York Yankees visiting the Miami Marlins in the Grapefruit League game on Sunday was certainly one of them. That’s because the possibility existed that it could feature Giancarlo Stanton’s first game against Miami since being traded to New York during the offseason.
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Unfortunately, we were reminded on Saturday why it’s difficult to get too hyped about these exhibition games. It was confirmed by the Yankees that Stanton will not be on the travel list for Sunday. That obviously means Stanton won’t be there, and his first matchup against Miami will have to wait at least another week.
Giancarlo Stanton is NOT on the Yankees' travel roster for tomorrow's game in Jupiter against the Marlins. Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez are expected to make the trip, however.
— clarkspencer (@clarkspencer) March 10, 2018
To be honest, the news isn’t a huge surprise. It’s not uncommon for established players and veterans to be left behind when there’s a bus ride involved, and it’s usually the team that’s making that decision. The bigger surprise is that Aaron Judge and Gary Sanchez are expected to travel to Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter, Fla. on Sunday.
Nonetheless, it’s kind of a bummer Stanton won’t be making an appearance in the ballpark where many of his early highlights happened, or in front of the fans who have watched him grow dating back to well before his MLB debut. It would have been interesting to see the reaction he got and to see if appearing there will soften his feelings about the Marlins.
It might not have been a bad idea for Stanton to get that moment out of the way either. He’ll have one more chance before the regular season when the Marlins visit Steinbrenner Field in Tampa on March 18. We know Stanton will at least be there, and we’d suspect he’ll be in the lineup for that one.
The teams are scheduled to meet four times during the regular season. There will be a two-game series at Yankee Stadium on April 16-17. On Aug. 21-22, the Yankees will travel to Miami for what will officially be Stanton’s return to South Florida.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Yahoo Sports Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
