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

The Yankees thought they were getting the deal of the century when they acquired NL MVP and MLB home run king Giancarlo Stanton, but the early returns have been disappointing. Now, however, he is about to start hitting and homering, and turning boos into wild applause.

The New York Yankees should have the most feared middle of the order in the game. Instead, two of the team’s biggest hitters–C Gary Sanchez and DH Giancarlo Stanton–had been stuck below .200. While it is way too early in the season to be worried about either, these are still sad starts.

But that all changed last night.

Giancarlo Stanton went 1-3 and raised his average to slightly over .200 (.203) while contributing, but little to the Yankees win. Those facts by themselves would mean nothing. Far more important, however, are all the things that did not show up in the box score.

Working backwards in significance was how Giancarlo Stanton got that single: With hustle and resolve. Here’s a big-timee MLB star living his dream of playing on the biggest stage for the biggest prize, and he’s choking on the pinstripes. As is Neil Walker, but that’s another story.

It would be both easy and inexcusable for him to get discouraged at a weak grounder. He is, after all, paid to slug and might be waiting for his next big home run.

But in the bottom of the fifth with two outs and two on, he hit a soft one to second that he only beat out because he was hustling down that line. Big home runs are great, and the Yankees would have taken one right there. Short of that, however, is showing heart and will to your teammates, and the fans.

The respect reflected back on him can only help his confidence.

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.

News and Notes

As this has been an incredibly short article, especially with my why-tell-a-story-with-50-words-when-you-can-use-1000 style, I have the space to throw in a couple of notes.

First is that Didi’s lack of range to his left was on full display last night. When sabermetricians gig him, that seems to be the primary reason.

Next is that RP David Robertson had nothing for the lefties. The only reason the Yankees won, in fact, was because the Blue Jays ran out of left-handed hitters. For them, this was a prime example of how choosing the bullpen over the bench can cost teams games.

There is every chance this was a temporary problem and that Robertson will go back to being himself. But it might also be time to consider moving Chad Green into the eighth inning spot. He has shown his value over multiple innings, and that has been big.

But the Yankees need their most reliable arms as the games go along. At least for now, Robertson is moving down that depth chart.