Giancarlo Stanton Finally Altered His Batting Stance Last Night, Got Four Hits, And Then Continued To Deny He Changed His Batting Stance
Giancarlo Stanton is still on pace for 38 home runs and 92 RBIs this season, which is absolutely acceptable from pretty much anyone. The problem is he’s just coming off a season where he hit 59 homers and 132 RBIs with a .281 batting average a .376 OBP and a ridiculous 1.007 OPS. The problem is he’s playing in New York where the team is desperate for a World Series title and he’s not producing the way many expected. A tale as old as time. The same exact shit happened with A-Rod. I said before the season that Giancarlo’s monster season would come in Year 2. People need time to adjust to their new surroundings. Unfortunately this is New York and New York fans are not the most patient fans in the world.
One thing that people, including myself, have gotten frustrated with is Giancarlo’s insistence to bat the way he does with his ridiculously closed stance. I understand last year he batted this way and produced the way he did. But to see the way he’s struggled at the plate and how he cannot hit a right handed pitcher to save his life is mind-bottling. I mean dude change it up a little. Make an adjustment. It’s what everyone does. Countless times media members have asked him if he’ll change his stance at the plate and every time Stanton has adamantly said no and his reasoning is simply “because I don’t want to.”
Well, what happened last night? He changed it!
What were the results? Four hits!
Go figure. When you are willing to make adjustments at the plate and try to fix what’s wrong, good things happen. What a concept!
For a little while, I had hoped Boone or Judge would have come up to him on the side and suggest he change up his stance just to see what would happen. I compared it to when a boyfriend/girlfriend notices their significant other is gaining some weight and subtly suggests they go to the gym or start running without actually telling them they’re getting fat. Apparently someone got through to Giancarlo and may have had a break through.
The month of June is currently on pace to be Stanton’s most productive month as a member of the Yankees in every statistical category. But we still haven’t had that “Holy fuck, how is this possible” stretch that we know him best for. Trust me, he’s a sleeping giant ready to be awoken. When it happens, baseball won’t know what to do with this lineup.
As for the rest of last night’s game…
Jonathan Holder
Jonathan Holder came in the 6th inning with runners on first and third and nobody out. The Yankees held a 3-2 lead, but were playing back to concede the runner at third just and get the double play. The brick wall that has become Jonathan Holder had other ideas. Holder battled with Mark Reynolds for 12 tough pitches before getting him to strike out a ballsy slider that was out of the zone. Since when does Reynolds battle in counts instead of being that homer or strikeout guy we used to know?
Daniel Murphy then pinched hit for Difo only to strike out on three pitches. That brought up Severino, who Holder got to pop out weakly to short to end the inning and escape a massive jam. It’s crazy the turnaround this guy has made over the last few months from being someone who barely made the team, to being sent down, to now being the man called on to get out of huge jams. He hasn’t given up an earned run since APRIL SIXTH. Last night he saved the game.
Aaron Hicks had the big blast of the contest, with this two run no doubter to give the Yanks the lead in the 5th.
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Over his last sixteen games, Hicks has 4 homers and 10 RBIs with a .961 OPS. Clint Frazier was called up in place of Ronny Torreyes, with Gardner dealing with a minor knee issue for the next few days. It seems that whenever Clint is sniffing the lineup, Hicks turns it on and starts to mash. I think we need to just permanently have Clint Frazier stationed at the end of the bench just staring at Hicks 24/7.
Things got a little hairy in the 9th for Aroldis Chapman who gave up a double and one out walk to bring the winning run to the plate. Chapman got Adam Eaton to strike out before Trea Turner lifted a ball to deep right field that seemingly kept carrying on Judge. Luckily, Judge is an outstanding right fielder and was able to track down the ball and end the game.
If we’re being completely honest, I think that’s out in Yankee Stadium and I certainly didn’t need that to toy with my heart.
The Yankees dropped the first game of the double header which was the resumed part of a suspended game last month. Technically this game was played in the past so it’s now noted the Yankees are not time travelers. In the bottom of the 6th, Juan Soto hit one of the furthest balls I’ve seen in a while off of Chad Green.
I don’t understand how we can continue to rely on StatCast when it tells us a ball like this one only went 433 feet. I mean it cleared the stands folks. That had to have been at minimum 475 feet, if not further.
The Yankees never really threatened in the game after that and lost 5-3. I’m content with a split in any doubleheader, especially in DC against that Nats lineup. Now a big three game set starts tonight at home against Seattle. With German and Johnny Lasagna starting the first two games and Severino going toe to toe with Paxton on Thursday, I’m hoping for two of three best case scenario.
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