Giancarlo Stanton’s Return Could Be the Yankees’ X-Factor
He’s Back!
Coming back from the IL this past Monday, Giancarlo Stanton has already made an impact on the Yankees.
Yankee fans have a good taste in their mouth from Stanton’s previous performances, and should be ecstatic to get a perennial power hitter like him back into the lineup.
Stanton can be an x-factor in this Yankee lineup, given his previous success.
Clutch Gene
Fans got a taste of Giancarlo’s clutch gene last season throughout the playoffs. Throughout the entire postseason, Giancarlo posted a .265 AVG, .709 SLG for a 1.048 OPS. His timely home runs and superhero ALCs pushed the Yankees to the World Series. Once there, he continued to perform and even hit a lead-changing home run in Game 1, although the game didn’t end in the Yankees’ favor.
It feels like every time Stanton makes contact with the ball, it is smashed. His homerun power is one of the best in the league, and the Yankees could always use some more power. They already rank 1st in home runs in the AL, but it never hurts to add more.
Lineup Clarity
Before Giancarlo returned, the Yankees had been rotating through a group of players, allowing each to get their fair share of playing time. Ben Rice is a versatile player who is still young and started off well, yet he hasn’t had the playing time he deserves. With Stanton, all of the dots start to connect.
Aaron Boone can and should use the 2 first basemen as platoon bats. Paul Goldschmidt is having a career year against LHP, while Ben Rice smashes RHP. With the DH spot being filled with Stanton, this allows those 2 players to have clear roles from now on. Rice can also take a day or 2 at DH if Stanton needs a day off, or even catch a game if needed.
Conclusion
While he is back from injury, do not expect Stanton to play every single game. He is still dealing with elbow tendinitis, also known as tennis elbow, in both elbows.
This is due to him switching his bat last season from the standard bat to the torpedo.
This ongoing issue will continue to hinder him for the foreseeable future, which means to expect a plentiful number of off days for Big G.
PHOTO: Vincent Carchietta/Imagn Images
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