High hopes for Stanton in Year 2

TAMPA — Giancarlo Stanton entered the clubhouse at George M. Steinbrenner Field for the first time of the spring Sunday and immediately went to the indoor batting cages, preparing for his second season with the Yankees.

With position players reporting Monday, Stanton will have plenty of company, but few have bigger expectations to begin 2019.

Coming off an MVP award in his final season in Miami, Stanton had a fantastic year by most standards with 38 homers and an OPS of .852, but it was a significant dropoff from the careerbest 59 homers and 1.007 OPS in Stanton’s final year with the Marlins.

Hitting coach Marcus Thames was asked what changes Stanton made in the offseason. He replied with a grin: “I know he’s been working on some things.”

Thames said Stanton will benefit from getting his first season in The Bronx under his belt but cautioned that Stanton still performed to a pretty high standard a season ago.

“People said, ‘Oh, he’s not the same hitter he was in Miami,’ ” Thames said. “Well, he was an MVP in Miami. Who repeats as the MVP anywhere, let alone after you get traded to a new team in a new league?”

Stanton opened last season with a pair of homers in Toronto, but struggled through much of the first two months.

He rebounded for most of the summer, but fell off again in the latter part of the season, bothered by a left hamstring injury.

His debut season bottomed out in the playoffs. Stanton hit a solo homer in the Yankees’ wild-card win over the A’s, but went just 4-for-18 with no extra-base hits and six strikeouts in a four-game ALDS loss to the Red Sox.

Still, Thames is confident Stanton has made the necessary adjustments to playing under the spotlight of New York.

“He’s got a great work ethic and I liked his approach to hitting and playing here,” Thames said. “He always came to work the same way. And I never saw him shy away from anything that comes with playing here. I think anyone will tell you the first year is an adjustment, so I’d expect him to be more comfortable this season, which can only help.”