ABSOLUTE POWER
Giancarlo Stanton keeps wowing the Yankees even on balls that don’t go over the wall
TAMPA — Watching Giancarlo Stanton on a regular basis now, I knew we were going to see some staggering displays of power. I just didn’t think they would be on balls that stayed in the park. Yet the ball he hit here on Friday, when he flicked his wrists at a twostrike pitch that was a foot outside and lined it off the wall in rightcenter, might be as impressive as any tape-measure home run Stanton hits this season.
“He’s just ridiculously talented, man,” said Brett Gardner. “I can’t even comprehend his whole approach, and the way he hits the ball. It’s like he just flicks his wrists and hits a 400-foot something line drive the other way.”
Yes, Stanton’s first-inning double against Braves’ lefty Scott Kazmir got quite a reaction in the Yankee clubhouse. It was hit so hard that Aaron Judge, who had walked, couldn’t score from first base, and apparently it was the talk of the dugout.
“I didn’t get a good look because I was running,” said Judge, “but I heard the ball never got more than about six feet off the ground the whole time.”
On his way out of the clubhouse, Judge turned and offered a quick summation: “Incredible.” Judge should know, of course, after some of the monster home runs he hit last season. But what’s interesting already is noting the difference between the two behemoths.
Stanton has a much shorter, quicker swing that is more of a slash than anything, producing sizzling line drives at least somewhat in contrast to Judge’s fuller, upper-cut swing that launches his moon shots.
Stanton takes an opposite-field approach, looking to get his arms extended from the closed stance he went to in June of last season that set him on a record home-run pace.
And, as Aaron Boone noted, the reigning NL MVP is dedicated to his approach, starting with the work he does every day in the cage.
“He’s a unique talent,” Boone said. “What I’m learning about Giancarlo is he’s got a really good idea of what makes
him successful. His work is very meticulous, very structured.
“He knows what he’s doing in his preparation, trying to work the ball the other way. There’s a real purpose to it.”
Greg Bird, a student of hitting, said he already marvels at Stanton’s disciplined approach.
“He knows he can get to the inside pitch if he has to,” Bird said, “but his approach keeps him back, allows him to see the ball longer. He knows what he’s doing. He’s a pro.”
That’s all well and good, and obviously Stanton wouldn’t hit 59 home runs, as he did for the Marlins last season, if he was just hacking away at the plate.
Still, let’s be honest, what makes him, like Judge, so much fun to watch is his freakish talent. In his case, the quicktwitch muscles, on a 6-foot-6, 240 pound frame, not only enable him to hit some of the longest home runs in baseball every year, but flick that pitch Friday to the wall.
So how did he do that, anyway? When I asked him, Stanton more or less shrugged and explained the physics of hitting for someone of his size and length.
“Got long levers,” he said. “Gotta get that extension out there. That one was a little off, so it wasn’t fully charged. But you get the barrel to it, good things will happen.”
I asked him if he was impressed he could hit a pitch that was so far outside all the way to the wall.
“Impressed?’’ he asked, seemingly bemused by the notion. “I’d say that’s my norm. Not for every ball but…that’s an interesting question. Impress myself, I never thought about that.”
“Well, a lot of other people were impressed,” I told him. Stanton smiled and said, “That’s the point, right?”
And that was that. He knows he’s good and why shouldn’t he? He is guarded in interviews, perhaps wary of the New York media, or perhaps because it’s his nature, as he wasn’t considered very media-friendly in Miami.
More importantly to the Yankees, players say he is fitting in nicely on his new ballclub, easy to get to know.
Gardner, the leader in that Yankee clubhouse, is making a point of helping the new guy feel comfortable.
With neither of them scheduled to make the trip to Fort Myers to play the Red Sox on Saturday, in fact, Gardner is planning on spending a few hours at Stanton’s house.
“My kid caught a real nice fish (Thursday),” Gardner said. “I’m going to take it over to his place. He said he’s got a chef, so we’ll see how talented his chef is. We’ll hang out a little bit, get to know each other, have some fun.”
At some point that ball off the wall on Friday might even come up in conversation.
“I’m still not sure how he did that,” Gardner said with a laugh.
He’s not alone.