The Yankees and Aaron Boone were willing to limit Giancarlo Stanton's injury risk and get him through the regular season given his lack of speed.
The same goes for the playoffs.
Stanton, who has struggled with calf, hamstring and quadriceps issues over the past five seasons, could have given up two runs to the Yankees after failing to score in the first inning on Oswaldo Cabrera's double against Kansas City on Sunday. There is. Either he hit it to right-center field or he hit a chopper to third base, and Juan Soto finished the sixth inning at third base.
“That's something we have to accept,” Boone said Sunday on a Zoom call from Yankee Stadium. “Whether we've watched a particular player play incredibly slow or impactful players over the years, that's something we have to accept.”
Boone and Stanton don't want to put the 34-year-old at any further risk by missing out, even in October when every out is more valuable.
In 2019, Stanton missed three straight games in the ALCS vs. the Astros with a quadriceps injury, limped back in Game 5, and had to sit out again in a contested Game 6. .
“He's got to do what he's got to do,” Boone said. “He's trying to reach top speed in the most fluid way possible.”
Stanton has long had one of the slowest sprint speeds in the league, according to Statcast, and that continued this season.
His 5.07 seconds to first base during the regular season was the slowest of his career and third slowest in the majors behind catchers Ali Sanchez and Yasmani Grandal.
But his overall sprint speed of 24.5 feet per second was the 19th worst in MLB among a slew of similarly slow catchers, first basemen, and DHs ahead of Stanton.
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“It's a controlled walk that he knows he has to figure out,” Boone said. “He got burned when he tried to raise and lower the accelerator. That's when he knew he was caught. [before]”
This running style allowed Stanton to play in more games and get more at-bats with a higher OPS last season than in any season since 2021.
Despite extra precautions and a slim frame, Stanton missed more than a month last season with a hamstring strain.
However, the Yankees saw the damage his bat could do during this period, posting a total OPS of .932 in the postseason.
