Why 2024 is critical season for Yankees' Giancarlo Stanton
In November, New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman commented about designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton and the injury issues that have plagued him during his time in pinstripes.
"We try to limit the time he's down, but I'm not going to tell you he's going to play every game next year because he won't," Cashman told Gary Phillips of the New York Daily News (h/t: Bleacher Report). "He's going to wind up getting hurt again more likely than not because it seems to be part of his game."
On Monday, the media asked Stanton about Cashman's comments.
"He knows my reaction to that."
Stanton's comments may not be revealing, but Cashman's words ring true.
When the New York Yankees acquired Stanton from the Miami Marlins before the 2018 season, he was coming off a career high in home runs (59) and runs batted in (132).
Stanton's days of approaching 60 dingers or 100 RBI are behind him, but the Yankees need the 34-year-old to be a reliable hitter for them to improve on their worst season since 1995. In 2023, he simply wasn't.
Stanton, who has a base salary of $32M this season, hit 24 home runs and placed in the 96th percentile for average exit velocity and the 94th in barrel percentage in 2023, per Baseball Savant. So when he makes contact, he usually hits the ball hard.
But his problem is making contact.
In 2023, he hit .191 with 124 strikeouts in 415 plate appearances and was in the bottom 10 percentiles in both whiff and sweet-spot percentage across 101 games.
The 2024 Yankees shouldn't be as dependent on Stanton's bat with Juan Soto joining Aaron Judge in the lineup. But if Stanton performs closer to his 2021 numbers (35 HRs, 97 RBI) than his 2022 or 2023 production, the offense will be much better.
Soto and Judge are good hitters and will take the walks that come their way. If Stanton regularly follows those two with a strikeout, pitchers will be more willing to put Soto and Judge on base.
Depending on how manager Aaron Boone structures his batting orders, this could translate to many opportunities with men on base for Stanton.
If he takes advantage of those chances, not only will the Yankees score more, but it will also force pitchers to pitch to Soto and Judge more often.
2024 is a critical year for the Yankees. A repeat of last year's fourth-place finish in the American League East could result in major changes within the organization and would indicate their World Series window has slammed shut.
If that's the case, Stanton's legacy in pinstripes will be solidified. He'll likely end his career as a high-profile player who didn't live up to his paycheck.
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