CLEVELAND — Giancarlo Stanton beat out Orlando Hernandez to become the late starter.
He's been good in the regular season, very good at times, but always leaves a feeling that he could have done more. Then October comes and there's more to come. Stanton showed during this period that he was ready to compete with Duque.
Hernandez was the best starter of the Yankees dynasty in the postseason. And Stanton is the Yankees' best October hitter in this generally frustrating era of postseason ball. He's an umpire and he comes in fast and furious in the postseason.
Entering Game 5 of the ALCS on Saturday night, he averaged nearly an RBI per game in the postseason, hitting 33 in 36 games. His 15 home runs tied Aaron Judge for third place in the Yankees' playoff total behind Bernie Williams, Derek Jeter and Mickey Mantle. But that's 15 home runs in 36 games. To put that in perspective, this equates to 67 ¹/₂ over 162 games.
And Stanton isn't taking meaningless shots. For example, the solo shot off Kansas City's Chris Bubic in the bottom of the 8th inning of Game 3 was the biggest hit in the Division Series. The match ended in a 2-2 draw. The series was tied 1-1. The Yanks were on the verge of retreat with just one loss left before being eliminated in the first round by the Royals.
Consider that as of Saturday, the Yankees had been at bat with runners in scoring position in 66 at-bats this postseason, but had only hit one home run. Stanton's three-run homer off Cade Smith gave the Yankees a 6-2 lead in Game 4, which they ultimately won. 8-6.
Dig into that at-bat and you'll find October Stanton.
He hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning against Emmanuel Classet, the best regular-season closer in the majors, after falling behind 0-2 on Thursday night. He fouled out with two strikes on three pitches, then smashed Crace's slider.
Smith is arguably the best setup man in the majors. Here are some quick facts. He allowed one home run over the course of the season (regular season and postseason), pitching 84¹/₃ innings in the first 81 games. On June 18, Seattle's Dylan Moore's leadoff shot gave the Mariners a 7-1 lead. Since then, he has faced 196 batters and has not allowed a long ball.
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The hitter was 0-2 against Smith in the regular season, but had a .113 batting average and 47 strikeouts in 75 at-bats. The first nine guys who went 0-2 against him in those playoffs were all outs, and seven were strikeouts. Stanton was ninth.
Juan Soto walked, Judge singled, and Jazz Chisholm got into scoring position with a sacrifice hit. The first base side was empty. Anthony Rizzo was on deck. However, Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt decided to let Smith attack. And it seemed to work when Smith went ahead 2-0. After all, Stanton has hit just .136 with two strikes this year, going 0-2 with a .119 batting average.
But that's Stanton's story from April to September.
In his previous at-bat, he struck out after a full count. However, this ended his career-long streak of 27 consecutive at-bats without a strikeout. And before that strikeout, Stanton's actions in his past seven at-bats in which he reached two strikeouts were as follows:
Single, double, single, walk, ground ball, home run, walk.
At this point, he told himself that he had to hit a sacrifice fly to avoid striking out. He got more. At 1-2, Smith hit a 94.2 mph fastball into the outside top corner of the strike zone, and Stanton sent it 404 feet. He had three hits in the ALCS, all of which were home runs.
“He did it again,” Aaron Boone said. “To hit two strikes there and get to one — it almost looked like a literal — could be a high heater, just smooth — just special. Locked in, ready to go. His preparation and ability to stay focused is impressive.”
Throughout this postseason, Stanton took to the field early to hit a fast-pitch machine, and was joined by Judge before Games 3 and 4. After appearing in Game 7 of the ALCS in 2017, the Yankees' offseason plans centered around acquiring Shohei Ohtani. When he rejected the Yankees, they immediately traded Starlin Castro and two prospects to the Derek Jeter-led Marlins, giving Stanton 10 of the $295 million remaining on the reigning National League MVP's contract. We offset $30 million of the year.
The idea was to build a twin tower offense around Judge and Stanton and win the championship. But for Stanton, the regular season was filled with ups, downs and injuries, and the Yankees' seventh straight loss to the Astros in the ALCS was the closest they came to reaching the World Series since winning the World Series in 2009.
Until now.
And because the Yankees are defined by championships, the fan base isn't focused on Hernandez, who posted a 61-40 record with a 3.96 ERA in the regular season as a Yankee. They gave El Duque the ball in October, when he made 11 postseason starts during the three-peat era from 1998-2000, when the Yankees won 10 games and had an 8-1 record with a 2.20 ERA. Remembering what it meant to give.
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Increasingly, Stanton is trying not to remind Yankees fans of his injuries, slumps and defensive jogs on the bases. He's building a historic October resume.
Entering the postseason, Stanton continues to make strides once again.
