Does Giancarlo Stanton Have the Answer For the New York Yankees Hitting Struggles?

Does Giancarlo Stanton Have the Answer For the New York Yankees Hitting Struggles?

by | Oct 22, 2022 | THE THREE SPOT

The New York Yankees fell into a 2-0 hole in the ALCS with a 3-2 loss to the Houston Astros on Thursday. It’s really easy to see why the series has been so one-sided. Bottom line, the Yankees offense has fallen off a cliff.

In Game 2, Aaron Judge, who has struggled mightily at the plate this postseason, came close to hitting a two-run homer in the 8th inning that would have turned the season around. But the explanation by Yankees manager Aaron Boone on Judge’s near home run may give some insight concerning how desperate things are getting as the series goes back to the “Big Apple”.

Aaron Boone via ESPN…

“I think the roof open kind of killed us,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said, later adding “I didn’t think like he smoked it like no doubter, but it felt like his homers to the right”

That’s the problem with the Yankees bats this postseason. Instead of putting the ball in play and trying to put runners on base, they are trying to win games with the long ball. That works in the regular season, but rarely in the playoffs when you are facing the best pitchers from the best teams in the world. Now the Yankees have shown that it can be done in the deciding game of the ALDS against the Cleveland Guardians. That’s when Giancarlo Stanton, yet another MLBbro, sent the Yanks to the championship series with this three-run homer in the 1st inning of Game 5.

 

But these are the Houston Astros, who are led by the MLBbro icon, Dusty Baker, looking to clear up some unfinished business of their own as well as eliminate past demons…

 

Dusty Baker Can Bring Back Two Things For The Houston Astros This Postseason…A Championship and Respect

 

The New York Yankees and their fans may be frustrated over the lack of hitting, but the problem is that this is nothing new. In the regular season, the Yanks have been able to survive with this formula that would make the late Baltimore Orioles manager Earl Weaver proud. They live and die by the long ball. The Yankees were first in the American League in home runs with 254, buoyed by Judge’s record total of 62. However, they were only tied for 16th in total hits with 1308 which places them in the BOTTOM half of the league.

Stanton was the first to address the elephant in the room after a four-hit performance in Game 2 via MLB.com…

“We’ve got to shorten up a little bit and put the ball in play,” …” You never know what can happen if you put the ball in play.”

While our MLBbro deserves credit for calling out the issues of the Yankees offense, he’s part of the problem. Despite hitting two home runs in the last series against Cleveland, his bat has been M.I.A. as well hitting only 4-for-24 this postseason with a double and six RBI. 

Despite the fact the Yankees have dominated at home with a 57-24 record, they have picked an inopportune time against the wrong team to have historic hitting struggles. The team’s batting average has bottomed out to .138 in two ALCS games with an unfathomable 30 strikeouts. 

Can Stanton turn this around? MLBro.com thinks it’s a definite possibility as our first lady of sports, Rachel Hill discusses here.

 

With Aaron Hicks out for the season and Aaron Judge still trying to find his rhythm, it is the perfect time for our MLBbro to add substance to analytical stats that could put him in the Mr. October conversation. He currently has the highest HR/AB ratio in MLB postseason history with 11 homers and 23 RBI in 25 games.

On paper, Stanton can do this. Let’s look at the highlights on his resume, shall we?

  • In 2022, he hit 31 home runs and drove in 78 runs, despite being a down year with injuries and slumps in periods throughout the season.

 

  • His 378 home runs put him on the fast track to the 500 HR club if he stays healthy.


  • His 59 homers with the Marlins back in 2017 show that he’s a superstar that could explode at any moment and that he’s due.

 

Then if the MLBbro combination of Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge get it together at the same time, the Yankees can buck history and win this series.

  • The Yankees are 28-2 when both homer in the same game


  • Game 5 in the ALDS marked the 4th time the duo homered in the same postseason game. Meaning these two can bring “Houston…we have a problem” cliches for the rest of the ALCS.

 

They still have five more games left to make it happen.