Yankees Slugger Proving to be Ageless Wonder

Giancarlo Stanton put on a show at George M. Steinbrenner Field during a rout of the Tampa Bay Rays. Those two home runs off of Shane Baz and Ian Seymour were the easy power we expect whenever Stanton stands at the plate.

The first was a 386-foot home run that snuck over the right field wall. Baz's 98.4 MPH fastball flew off his bat at 104.4 MPH. That was the night's third of nine home runs and Stanton's first.

Stanton's next blast crept over the right-field wall, just like the first one. He hit Seymour's low 90's heater like a rocket and watched his frozen rope travel 103.4 MPH.

For his first 46 games of the season, Stanton is on a torrid pace. Beating up on a hapless division rival that is struggling to stay over .500 is light work for a potential Hall of Fame slugger with 14 home runs in only 166 plate appearances.

Stanton is hitting .306/.386/.619, and if he keeps this up, it would be the first time he finished a season hitting over .300 and had an OPS over 1.000 since his MVP year. Granted, it would not be over a full season, but at 35 years old, and closer to the end of his 13-year $325 million deal than the beginning, he is becoming ageless, when, at first, it looked as if this contract wouldn't hold up.

While this is an incredible start and a much-needed boost to this team, it could be tied for Stanton's best 46-game stretch as a Yankee. According to Stathead, in 2021, between August 6 and September 28, Stanton hit .310/.361/.655 with 18 home runs and 43 RBI.

You may remember that span for several moments. The first was Stanton's big home run into the cornfield during the Field of Dreams game against the White Sox, which became a nightmare immediately after that. The other was Stanton's grand slam in Boston. The ball flew over the green monster and towered above the DraftKings billboard. It was as majestic a shot as Stanton has ever hit in his career.

Stanton may never stay healthy, and Brian Cashman was honest about that before the 2024 season, but if he still has runs like this in him when it could be the twilight of a great career, you take the nicks and bruises and IL stints along the way. It seems inconceivable to see this from a player, when, just a few years ago, in his age 32 and 33 seasons, combining 867 plate appearances, he hit a paltry .202/.286/.442.

Guys with the injury history Stanton has had are supposed to get worse. They aren't supposed to get better. It's like he drank from the same fountain of youth Tom Brady did.

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