NY Yankees DH Giancarlo Stanton is the X-factor for the franchise’s 2024 World Series chances.
It seems that the glory days are back for Major League Baseball. When the New York Yankees are the darlings/villains of the news cycle on a daily basis, the media (MLBbro.com included), television networks, and even the sport itself benefit.
The Yankees are in a battle not only for the number one seed in the American League playoffs, but just to win the American League East with a half-game lead over the Baltimore Orioles. While the Yankees’ fan base has the 2024 team on a “Championship or Bust” mission statement, the burning question is how this team will perform in the playoffs. Will this more versatile and multi-faceted version of the Bronx Bombers excel offensively after minimal impact in the last few postseasons?
The Yanks have brought the term “The Big 3” from the NBA to baseball with their trio of Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Juan Soto. But who could end up making the most impactful contribution?
Aaron Judge?
The easy way out to analyze the Yankees’ postseason hopes is to place them at the feet of Aaron Judge, who for the third time this season collected the American League Player of the Month with more Ruthian numbers with each passing week…
If any American League manager that faces the Yankees in the postseason even THOUGHT about challenging the odds-on favorite for MVP to feast on their pitching, he would be criticized. Look for a number of intentional walks or a limited number of pitches to hit.
How about Juan Soto?
Soto, the next big-time free agent up for a record deal in the offseason, has been on fire this season.
However, his postseason experience is limited, despite winning and performing well in a World Series as a rookie. With Washington (2019) and San Diego (2022) Soto hit .261 with seven homers, 29 hits, 21 RBI, and 29 runs scored in 29 games.
So which of these three Bronx Bombers do Yankees fans need to look out for in late September?
MLBbro.com’s Chris Bolton may have the answer…
Giancarlo Stanton Has 425 Career Homer: Is It Foul or Fair To Say He’s Yankees X-Factor? pic.twitter.com/BfQIkfLUkj
This MLBbro is on fire right now alongside his Bronx Brothers in the outfield with five homers in his last 10 games played. Not only that, but he has also set a little history. On Labor Day, he became the only active player with at least 25 home runs or more in 10 seasons, breaking a tie with Mike Trout.
#MLBbro Giancarlo Stanton keeping it G with this Bro Bomb 💣
His tally is at 25. The 10th time in his career he’s started home, then came STRAIGHT back home 🔥 https://t.co/gYEA7iBLI4
He’s also the active home run king as well with 426 career bro bombs. In 95 games this season, Stanton is batting .244 with an OPS of .805. This is where our MLBbro can shine in the postseason due to the fact teams are going to play by the numbers and pitch around Soto and Judge.
With a little more than 20 games left in the season, while MLBbro MVP Judge and Juan Soto are receiving all of the headlines for now, the postseason may come down to how well Giancarlo Stanton does with his bat.
The NY Yankees have gotten plenty of contributions from their star players, Aaron Judge Juan Soto, and Giancarlo Stanton. Mark and Manny debate which player is most important to the Yankees World Series hopes this season?
Major League Baseball re-enters the “Must-see TV” realm this weekend when the New York Yankees face the Los Angeles Dodgers for the first time this season. This series is definitely an early season preview to a potential World Series showdown in October. It definitely has the star power. Not only are MLBbros Aaron Judge and Mookie Betts the headliners, but they have superstar tag team partners in Juan Soto and Shohei Ohtani as well.
While the Dodgers have the largest lead in their division at eight games, the Yankees are the class of professional baseball. After sweeping the Minnesota Twins for the ENTIRE SEASON, the Yanks are riding an eight-game winning streak and are only percentage points behind the Phillies for the best record in the game.
This rivalry is old, but not as old as the mystique of the New York Yankees championship pedigree that is evident with the superstars, the managers and most importantly the history… 27 World Series championships. But their success on the baseball diamond didn’t match the headlines around their off-field drama through the ‘70s which kind of rekindled in the ‘90s.
The George Steinbrenner/Billy Martin feud with the constant hiring and firing.
The Reggie Jackson era where his “Mr. October” legacy was born and lives to this day. Like the man has his own candy bar!
The jealousy of fans of other teams watching the stars either pine to the big stage in pinstripes or getting there and obtaining their dreams of attention and money!
Then there’s the World Series dominance over the Dodgers going back to the Brooklyn days!
It’s no secret that Yankees paraphernalia has been an easy sell over the years. Even casual sports fans have a Yankees hat in their collection. But with the combination of having possibly the top three power hitters in the game in Juan Soto and MLBbros Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, the New York Yankees could be building their next dynasty.
But this team is more than big bats as Alex Rodriguez discusses here.
This is no longer a team that depends on power and three-run homers to demoralize opponents. The Yankees have improved almost every aspect of not only their offense but their defense and pitching as well. When this week started, the Bronx Bombers led the majors in four vital categories: OPS, ERA, homers and winning percentage.
Major League Baseball needs casual fans to join the party and the Yankees can be the catalyst. With Aaron Judge dominating the news cycle breaking the American League home run record a couple of seasons back, he is the reminder to fans to tune into every Yankees game on television to see what the hype is about.
But if the Yankees build their dynasty, this might be more like the MLBbro icon Reggie Jackson-led Yankees in the late ‘70s than the Derek Jeter-led ‘90s dynasty. Why? Reggie’s teams were just powerful and built their identity around home runs. Even though those teams were well-rounded, the big bats made the headlines. It was how those Yankees teams were winning that captured the attention of the sports world.
But there are sports fans that don’t root for Goliath; they want to see him fall. Which is how baseball gets to pop culture.
If the Yankees continue this run for the next few years, the only baseball fans that enjoy it will be in the Bronx. The rest will root for their demise. That’s something Major League Baseball is missing that other sports own and make bank off of.
NBA: Los Angeles Lakers with the ultimate lightning rod in LeBron James
NFL: It used to be the New England Patriots with Tom Brady, now it’s the Kansas City Chiefs with Patrick Mahomes
WNBA: Unless you have been under a rock… Caitlyn Clark in just a few games!
Naming the Yankees a potential dynasty before they’ve even won one championship may be conceived as putting the cart before the horse, but this series against the Dodgers is the start of the media hype. The ingredients are already there: The best player. The best team. The top media market in America.
Now we get to watch and see how long it takes for the Yankees to get their old enemies back!
The New York Yankees made one of the biggest splashes this offseason by acquiring four-time Silver Slugger winner and 2019 World Series Champion Juan Soto via trade with the San Diego Padres.
Pairing a top-five player in the league in Soto with another top-five player in star outfielder and 2022 AL MVP Aaron Judge, should make for a devastating batting combo.
Judge Willing To Play More Centerfield
The challenge for teams with an abundance of talent is convincing individual stars to make sacrifices in order to achieve the ultimate goal of winning a World Series ring. It seems Judge is willing to do just that as he’s made it known this offseason that he’s open to switching over to centerfield to give the team more depth at the position, with recently-acquired Trent Grisham being the only natural centerfielder on the roster.
Judge, 31, has predominantly played right field throughout his seven years with the Yankees, while blossoming into a five-time All-Star selection, three-time All-MLB selection, three-time Silver Slugger award winner (2017, 2021, 2022), 2017 AL Rookie of the Year winner and single-season AL home run leader.
Juan Soto Is A Defensive Liability
Yankees general manager Aaron Boone stated that Judge playing centerfield more frequently will allow the Yankees to rest their superstar more by also utilizing him as a designated hitter. The Yankees can also get creative and slot Grisham at center while returning Judge to right field when Soto takes the day off. Giancarlo Stanton and his 402 career bro bombs will be worked into the DH position somewhere.
Despite Soto’s hitting prowess, he is one of the worst defensive outfielders in the league. That calls for the former MVP in Judge to have to excel in his role as centerfielder for a team that was one of MLB’s worst fielding teams in 2023. The Bronx Bombers committed the sixth most errors in baseball (96).
With Soto projected to be mostly slated as the right fielder (Judge’s natural position), Judge will be heavily slotted at center or even left field this upcoming season alongside Grisham and former Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo, who will probably get most of the reps in leftfield. Can Verdugo finally secure a position that has been an unstable one for the Yankees? Playing left field at Yankee Stadium is harder than his previous Fenway Park stomping grounds where he has a +21 DRS in left field. It’s much easier to hide poor range in Fenway.
The Yankees have not won a World Series since 2009. A drought the legendary organization hasn’t experienced since a brief low point in the 1980s.
If the Yankees want a chance to contend, they will have to severely improve defensively in the outfield as a unit. Adding MLBbro Marcus Stroman to the rotation definitely makes it more formidable.
Can the new-look Yankees put it all together and make a postseason run? Getting the outfield situated is the first step towards finding out that answer.
Josh Bell and Trent Grisham combined for three home runs, five RBI and scored seven runs to beat the Mets in their Wild Card series matchup. Now they will load up for the rematch the west coast has been waiting for against Mookie Betts, Dave Roberts, Trayce Thompson and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
It’s playoff time and the bros are out in full swing, playing for big stakes.
San Diego has been waiting for this matchup since 2020, when they got swept 3-0 by Los Angeles in the “Bubble” World Series.
That series win not only propelled the Dodgers to their first World Series win since 1988 and gave Betts, Price and manager Dave Roberts their second championship rings, it showed the Padres could finally stand toe-to-toe with some of the Majors’ top teams, if they could find a few missing a few pieces.
Fast forward to 2021, when San Diego entered as big favorites but ultimately failed to make the playoffs after an injury to Fernando Tatis Jr. and the Dodgers ran into a buzzsaw in the N.L.C.S. against the Brave. Both teams were left searching to reach another level.
That set the stage for 2022, which began with Dave Roberts guaranteeing a World Series win for his Dodgers.
(@mookiebetts) Mookie Betts With Message From The 2022 All-Star Game: “We Need More Black People In The Stadium”#MLBbro content reporter @_teammill gets this interview.
Mookie Betts sends a message and talks about his DJ skills and his favorite rapper. pic.twitter.com/nnTdS1Pal7
As Mookie Betts told us at the All-Star Game, anything less would be selling them short. The big-spending Dodgers added All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman to give them the best one-two-three punch in baseball along with Betts in the leadoff spot and Trae Turner behind him.
Those comments resonated within the locker room as the Dodgers finished with a franchise record 111 wins, mostly without their best starting pitcher and after somewhat of a slow start.
Wins began accumulating for the L.A. when they promoted Trayce Thompson, the brother of NBA Champion, Golden State Warriors guard Klay. Thompson sparked the offense when he replaced Betts after he went on the Injured List for a few weeks. He hit over .300 between June and August, finishing the year at .256 with 13 home runs and 41 RBI.
The Padres were without Tatis Jr. to begin the year and it turned out he would not be playing a game in their uniform for a while after he was suspended for PED use right before he made his comeback. For most teams that may spell the end to their seasons, but weeks before San Diego made a blockbuster trade, acquiring Juan Soto and Josh Bell from the Washington Nationals.
Soto is one of the best players in baseball, has already turned down a $440M contract offer and he is only 23, while Bell has earned himself a bag in upcoming free agency.
Bell ended the season with one of the highest batting averages for any switch hitter and was robbed from an All-Star selection after hitting .358 with seven home runs, seven doubles and 18 RBI in June. Padres outfielder Trent Grisham was the MVP of Wild Card weekend. If Tatis Jr. was playing, Grisham may have been made the odd man out, but now he is doing what you are supposed to do in October, make a name for yourself.
Games 1 and 2 of the Divisional Series will be played on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Recent Comments