Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton is continuing his rehab after hamate surgery, a process that typically takes four to six weeks but is going "definitely slower" in his case, he said Saturday, via Fox Sports Florida.
Stanton says his left hand still hurts while hitting off a tee, and he has no timetable for his return from the June 28 surgery.
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At the time of his injury, Stanton led the majors with 27 home runs and 67 RBIs through 74 games. He was voted an All-Star starter for the first time but was unable to play in his third Mid-Summer Classic.
Through Saturday, he has missed 29 games and counting.
"Definitely slower," Stanton said. "That's the generation of your whole swing is that turnover, your hand and your wrist. I know what a sore wrist feels like and now with a broken hand and the sore wrist, it takes a little longer."
Added manager Dan Jennings: "I think what you're going to have with Giancarlo is once it kicks in and he gets to that comfort level where he is good with turning it loose, it'll be a pretty fast thing, but he has to get to that level first. He's still building some strength in his wrist. It's not there yet. He knows his body, as I've said. When he gets to that point I think you'll see that clock speed up and he'll be able to progress in the live BP and be ready to go."
Stanton, 25, began swinging a bat last week and has progressed to the tee, but he's having to work through the pain.
"I'm doing as strong as it allows me to," Stanton said of his swing. "Getting decent, the ball's coming off OK. It's just the pain level of it."
Once the pain when he swings goes away, Stanton will move on to the next steps before likely playing in rehab games and rejoining the team. Entering Sunday's game vs. the Padres, the Marlins are 12-17 in his absence and have fallen 13 games back of the first-place Nationals in the NL East, so frankly at this point there's little reason to rush.
"I've got to swing off a tee with no pain first and go from there," Stanton said. "I don't know when that will be."
