Giancarlo Stanton turns in ‘solid first day’ during his Yankees return

After 70 games without him, Giancarlo Stanton finally was back in the middle of the Yankees’ suddenly flailing lineup.

Stanton garnered what he described as an “awesome” standing ovation in his initial at-bat in the first inning during his long-awaited 2025 debut, and the slugger smacked two hits in four plate appearances during the Yanks’ 1-0 loss in 11 innings Monday night to the Angels.

“Great to be back. Obviously, [I] want to win, but it’s good to be back out there,” Stanton said after the game. “It was a solid first day, and I’ll take it into tomorrow.”

Stanton, who had been sidelined since the start of spring training with tendon issues in both elbows, ripped a single to left in the fourth inning and a leadoff double to left in the ninth off Angels closer Kenley Jansen.

Jasson Domínguez replaced Stanton as a pinch runner, but the Yanks didn’t score for a second straight game, finishing 1-for-18 with runners in scoring position.

Despite his multihit game, Stanton pointed out that he had one of those failures to come through with a hard grounder to third to end the first inning against Angels starter José Soriano.

“Wrong time [for the hits], needed the one in the first,” he said. “But it was good; I squared up some balls, squared up some high velocity, and that was important.”

Before the game, manager Aaron Boone had said that Stanton “had a really good work day” on Sunday, adding he was “so excited to get the big boy back.”

The 35-year-old designated hitter had gone 3-for-11 in a three-game minor league rehab stint last week with Double-A Somerset — with a double, four RBIs, a walk and three strikeouts.

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“He’s built some good momentum here over the last couple of months with it. The strength in his hands and things like that have returned in a good way,” Boone said. “Certainly something we’ll pay attention to, but feel like we’re in a pretty good spot.

“He just got through playing three in a row down there, and that third day was up in the air. But because he continued to bounce back, [he played]. Hopefully that’s a good sign moving forward.”

Even without the five-time All-Star, the Yanks have maintained a first-place position in the AL East standings, although their lead is down to 2.5 games over the second-place Rays.

They entered this series leading the American League in runs scored and second in OPS (.794), and Boone now will try to figure out ways to find regular at-bats for a group that also includes Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt, Ben Rice and Domínguez for three lineup spots.

“Whatever is best for us to win, that’s the most important,” said Stanton, who went deep seven times during the Yanks’ 2024 postseason run before they lost to the Dodgers in the World Series. “The guys that aren’t starting are going to come up in huge pinch-hit spots, so you’ll have in that opportunity a chance to win the game anyway. So we’ll work with it.”