Yankees: Stanton ‘Much More Comfortable’ in 2nd Season in New York

Despite hitting 38 homers and slugging .515, many considered Yankees OF Giancarlo Stanton’s 2018 to be a down season. Entering 2019, however, the slugger is feeling “much more comfortable” in New York.

New York Yankees outfielder Giancarlo Stanton made a slight adjustment to his swing while with the Miami Marlins in 2017. The adjustment – slightly closing his batting stance – led to one of the most dominating stretches for a power hitter in baseball history.

That season, Stanton was voted the NL MVP after smacking 59 HR with an MLB best .631 SLG.

Months later, however, Stanton was traded to the Yankees, who in exchange for taking on his massive contract gave the Marlins menial prospects. The hope for the “Bronx Bombers” was to create perhaps the deadliest 1-2 punch in baseball history: Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton.

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Now, New York features one of the most brutal media landscapes for ballplayers. Every move you make – or don’t make – is heavily scrutinized on the back pages of the City’s newspapers and fans and commentators analyze, perhaps even criticize, every move, every decision, literally everything you do on sports talk radio.

That’s a tough adjustment for a dude from California and who has played his entire career in Miami to make.

By many standards, Stanton did have a good season in New York in 2018. He completed another season without a trip to the DL, led the team in HRs, and still drove in 100 Rs.

Compared to the previous season, however, many considered this to be a down year for the slugger. His HR total did drop by more than 20 bombs, he struck out a career-high 211 times, and his OBP (.343) was nothing to write home about.

The good news is that Giancarlo Stanton feels better entering the 2019 season. He said so to the New York Post’s Dan Martin:

“I have a better idea of how to play left field with half a year playing there under my belt. Everything is much more comfortable after a season in New York. It helps me, for sure.”

So, what could Stanton feeling better result in for the Yankees? For one, we might see the first pair of teammates to hit 50 or more HR in a single season since Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle. We might see Maris’ team record of 61 HR be surpassed for the first time in close to 60 years. We might even see New York’s first AL MVP award since Alex Rodriguez won it in 2007.

Of course, we have to let the season play out, but Yankee fans should feel really good entering the 2019 season.