In just about a month since hitting the 299th home run of his career, Giancarlo Stanton has struggled massively. By no coincidence, the Yankees have played to a disappointing record of 13-12 in that span.
Although Giancarlo Stanton did smash homer No. 300 on August 30, it’s no secret the 28-year-old’s season has taken a hit since the chase for the milestone began. In 25 games, he’s has slashed just .168/.292/.284 with a wRC+ of 62 while seeing his K% jump from 29.6% to 34.5%.
This extended slump has caused his AVG to drop from a strong .285 down to a mere .265 and his SLG to just be hanging above .500 by a point. But the real negative aspect to the disappearance of Stanton’s hot bat isn’t the personal numbers, it’s the Yankee team as a whole.
It’s easy to throw out the term “flat” when a team’s offense just simply isn’t performing, but that’s quite the perfect term to use when describing this Yankee team who, before Tuesday night, has lacked the bat of Aaron Judge since July 26.
For the first three weeks of Judge’s absence, Stanton picked up the slack as best one possibly could, slugging .663 with eight home runs in 94 plate appearances. However, it’s been a different story for the 6’6” slugger since, slugging just .323 in the following 118 PA.
Perhaps with the highly anticipated return of Judge Tuesday, Stanton will feel less of a weight on his back to carry a struggling Yankee offense and the same could possibly be said for Gary Sanchez who’s whole season has been a struggle.
Giancarlo Stanton (@Giancarlo818 ) hits a solo home run (34th), now the @Yankees trail the @BlueJays 8-2.
Distance: 3428 ft
Exit Velo: 110 mph
Launch Angle: 22°#StartSpreadingTheNews pic.twitter.com/bVYbeY2gZz— Ethan Semendinger (@EthanSem) September 16, 2018
Regardless, Stanton has another 13 games left to figure things out and get this team hot headed into the postseason. A postseason which will be the first of his career. That being said, there’s no denying this can be a huge opportunity for the first-year Yankee to officially win the fans over as a player who performs when the lights shine brightest.