Yankees Giancarlo Stanton is about to break out in a big, big way

Now on to the Important Stuff

Those, however, are the side notes; far more important were the quality of his at-bats. For the first time this season, Stanton almost never swung at a pitch outside the zone.

Giancarlo Stanton had until last night been swinging at high fastballs up and out, as well as breaking balls down and in. Even when he would start an AB with some patience, it would evaporate after two or three pitches.

But not on Thursday. He ignored the high hard ones and spit on the lowdown breaking stuff. Balls he had been flailing at for three weeks were now ignored. And when big men start swinging only at pitches in the zone, you know good things are about to happen.

Besides, Stanton is a streaky hitter, so three bad weeks is nothing new. There was, however, one more big change that predicted success: His breathing.

As I wrote earlier, it is way too early for almost any kind of evaluations. I think we all remember when some folks called for Didi Gregorius to be benched, sent to the minors, or returned to Arizona along with GM Brian Cashman.

They are among the same ones who now write in the comments section that Didi is the greatest shortstop ever, and mentioning Manny Machado is heresy.

But, still, I was getting worried as I watched Stanton start to develop A-Rod breathing. That’s when you step up to the plate telling yourself and the world that you are completely relaxed while breathing as heavily as if someone just said, “Bend over and cough.”

So it was a great relief to see a more relaxed Stanton step into the batter’s box. He controlled his emotions and the strike zone for the first time last night, all of which points to an imminent breakthrough.