This is the Giancarlo Stanton that New York Yankees fans were expecting when he was traded to the Bronx from the Miami Marlins prior to the 2018 season.

 

 

After winning the 2017 National League MVP award with 59 home runs and 132 runs batted in, Stanton was supposed to join Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge in creating a Murderer’s Row for the 21st century.

Instead, from 2018 to 2020, the trio played in fewer than 200 regular-season games with a combined 45 home runs.

Giancarlo has been big in the postseason, hitting eight home runs in 17 games. He mashed his way through the Tampa Rays with four knocks in five games in last year’s ALDS. 

 

 

But without a championship, Stanton can’t become a made man in pinstripes. Suddenly, he’s playing up to that immense potential and carrying the Yankees’ offense.

“The Kraken” hasn’t been cracking in a while, as Sanchez is batting .155 over his last 69 games. Judge has run hot and cold all season but has homered in only five games this season, including just three of his last 17.

Add in the struggles of Aaron Hicks and DJ LeMahieu and you get a New York offense that ranks second in home runs in the American League, but tied for 11th in runs scored, and a 16-15 record for a franchise confident about finally capturing its 28th title.

Stanton was ice cold as the Yankees got off to a 5-10 start, but he has turned it around in a major way to help New York take 11 of its last 15.

Thursday afternoon, Stanton extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a solo home run into the bullpen in a 7-4 loss to the Houston Astros.

 

 

That blast left his bat moving faster than a Category 3 hurricane and doing about as much damage. 

During this run, Stanton has sent missiles all over the field. He’s hitting .480, with 25 hits in his last 52 at-bats. Six of his nine home runs and 11 of his 23 RBI this season have come over that span as well.

This surge has Stanton now carrying a career-high .314 batting average. His current.953 OPS is his best since that MVP campaign and almost 60 points higher than any of his previous three seasons.

He’s in a groove.

And he’s not just ripping through the ball, he’s seeing it clearly. Stanton hasn’t struck out more than once in his last 13 games after racking up seven games with multiple Ks in his first 15 appearances.

He’s playing the best baseball of his career when his team has needed it the most, keeping New York within 2.5 games of the AL East-leading Boston Red Sox.

If it can stay healthy, the Yankees’ offense is one of the most explosive in all of baseball with power and skill in each third of the lineup.

Stanton was brought to New York to join the legendary sluggers that have called Yankee Stadium home (mostly the old one, of course). Let him lead the way through the playoffs and into another parade through the Canyon of Heroes and he will be a legend.

Meanwhile, there’s no missile defense system that can protect pitchers from the projectiles coming from the player in pinstripes.

Watch out now! Stanton has finally arrived.

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