Giancarlo Stanton is letting the Yankees down when it counts
The Yankees acquired Giancarlo Stanton to be one of their best hitters. Down the stretch, he’s been anything but a star slugger.
There have been times during the 2018 season when Giancarlo Stanton’s white-hot hitting has carried the Yankees through times of stress. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case at all down the stretch. Stanton’s inability to carry the offense during Aaron Judge’s injury absence is a huge reason why the Yankees are in danger of losing home field advantage for the Wild Card game.
For the record, it’s not far to say that Stanton’s entire season has been a failure. His current batting average of .264 could certainly be better, but 33 home runs and 86 RBIs are very solid power numbers. It’s not been a career year for Stanton in pinstripes, but it’s not as if he’s been a disaster.
The problem with Stanton’s play is what he’s done for his team when they really needed him most. The Yankees are floundering at the moment. They’ve gone 7-9 in their last 16 games and now hold only a one game lead over the Athletics for the top Wild Card spot. It’s a coin toss as to whether or not the Yankees can hold Oakland off down the stretch.
The ugly reality is that Stanton only has eight hits in his last 70 at bats. Even uglier is the fact that he’s struck out 31 times during the slump. He’s had a little bit of bad luck with his batting average for balls in play, but all too often he’s failing to make the defense do anything to stop him.
Stanton now 8 for his last 70, with 31 strikeouts in that span
— Erik Boland (@eboland11) September 13, 2018
It may be a little unfair to pick out his stats over such a precise period of time, but Yankees fans are looking for explanations for their team’s poor play as of late. Aaron Boone is getting a ton of blame, but it’s not entirely his fault one of his best healthy hitters has gone into a horrible slump at the worst time of year. Some of the blame has to fall on Stanton directly.
The good news is that there is still enough time for Stanton to turn things around. Throughout this season, and his entire career, he’s endured maddening lows and thrilling highs. The Yankees need to hope that he snaps out of his current doldrums soon or it may cost them any chance of making a deep playoff run in 2018.
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No one should bet against Stanton turning things around before the postseason arrives, but he’s running out of time. The Yankees need him to heat up to turn their season around.