STANTON’S JUST A MESS:
Scout sez Giancarlo’s woes are striking as Yankees hit Boston
BOSTON — Giancarlo Stanton is about to get his first taste of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry come Tuesday — and he may get better treatment in enemy territory than he’s gotten in the Bronx.
Stanton was booed vociferously by Yankees fans because of his dreadful performance during his first homestand wearing pinstripes.
Stanton went 0-for-7 with five strikeouts on Sunday — becoming the first player in the live-ball era to have two games with no hits and five Ks in the same season, with all of it happening over a six-day span in early April.
His stat-line to date: 42 at-bats, 20 strikeouts, three homers, two Platinum Sombreros. So far, Stanton has handled his postgame interviews way better than he’s handled opposing pitchers.
“He’s just a mess,” is how one scout put it. “He’s jumping at everything, missing balls by a few feet and not identifying pitches. He’s got great bat speed and power, but he’s leaking pretty badly and pulling off the ball a lot — even with his closed stance.”
Still, the scout noted, Stanton has been prone to these types of stretches, only to make the proper adjustments, turn things around and go off. “You never want to bury a player too early — especially a guy like him,” the scout said.
More concerning was Stanton’s defense in left, which another scout called “horrendous” due to his poor reads. The 28-year-old has been forced into regular action at the unfamiliar position due to the outfield being decimated by injuries.
The Bombers could certainly use some Monster Mashing from Stanton and Aaron Judge in the days to come. After all, back in December, a funny tweet went up featuring a Photoshop of the Green Monster being raised a hundred feet or so to combat the slugging duo.
But for all of Stanton’s struggles, the Yankees have still managed to average 5.5 runs in their first 10 games, which ranks fourth in baseball. This despite Gary Sanchez getting off to a 2-for-32 start and the early injuries to Greg Bird and Aaron Hicks, who is slated to play his first minor-league rehab game for
Triple-A Scranton on Tuesday, and could be back by the weekend in Detroit.
Plus, Stanton started off his NL MVP campaign in 2017 slashing .226/.300/.415 over his first 14 games. He proceeded to hit four homers in his next three games before going into a 3-for-34 funk. Again, this was a year in which he changed his stance during the season and finished with 59 homers and 132 RBI. He’s streaky. He’s trying to figure things out. By comparison, J.D. Martinez is hitting .226 with a homer and four RBIs for Boston.
A third scout suggested the Bombers put hothitting lefty Didi Gregorius between Stanton and Judge as a way to break things up. But regardless of what they do on Tuesday night, it will be awful tough with All-Star southpaw Chris Sale on the mound. Sale, excellent at deception, posted an 0-3 record with a 2.65 ERA in five starts against the Yankees last season, but nobody really hit him well — except Hicks, who won’t be available.
Judge is 0-for-12 with 10 strikeouts and two walks lifetime versus Sale. Stanton has never faced him. It could be a rude welcome to the rivalry. At least Luis Severino will be opposing Sale in what will be a battle of aces with electric arms.
GLEYBER SEASON
Come Saturday, the Yankees will be able to promote Gleyber Torres while having secured an additional year of team control (seven instead of six). The 21-year-old prospect had four hits with Triple-A Scranton on Sunday. With Bird out, you wonder if Torres’ timetable to the majors could be accelerated — especially if the Bombers continue to be a middling team. It also may depend on injuries and how Tyler Wade performs at second.
Torres will only be playing second and third now in Triple-A Scranton, according to reports from there.