The final month of the regular season was pretty bad for Giancarlo Stanton. Starting Thursday, he was 9-for-56 with just one home run in his past 16 games.
But with October approaching and Stanton's success in the postseason, there was reason to believe he could depart soon.
And on Thursday night, Stanton led the way in the Yankees' 10-1 win over the Orioles to clinch the AL East championship.
In the second inning, he hit a home run to give the Yankees and Gerrit Cole the lead, and in the sixth inning, trailing by six runs, he decided the game with a three-run double to right-center field.
“He's the X-factor for us,” Aaron Judge said. “We've seen it every postseason. He gives us big hits and plays big. But I saw a different look in his eyes. [Thursday] when I entered the field. He was grounded and focused on something else, much like Stanton in the playoffs we've seen so many times. ”
Unlike in years past, Stanton is strictly a DH these days, so his role in the postseason shouldn't be up for debate.
And with 11 home runs in 110 at-bats and a .963 OPS, he probably has the best postseason resume of any Yankees position player.
No one in the lineup has a higher OPS in the playoffs, and Judge (13) is the only one with more home runs, but they have 88 more at-bats.
“This is the most important time of the year,” Stanton said. “There is no other choice.”
When asked what gives Stanton an edge during this time, Aaron Boone replied: [he’s] Very mentally demanding. He's very particular about how he prepares and isn't affected by bad at-bats or the noise around it that can leak out for some players.
“He's been through it and knows how to deal with it.”
Overall, it was a solid bounce-back season for Stanton. In 2023, the Yankees missed the postseason, and he had the worst year of his career with a batting average of .191 and an OPS of .695.
A slightly slimmer version of Stanton has been much better this season as he looks to build momentum heading into the playoffs.
With Thursday's double and home run, 14 of Stanton's last 21 hits have been extra-base hits.
So, while Stanton will continue to be a sloth on the baseball field and get a lot of strikeouts, he will also have a good October and try to fulfill his huge contract.
That success was less pronounced two years ago, the last time Stanton and the Yankees reached the postseason, when Stanton went just 6-for-32 with four extra-base hits.
But that was after a regular season in which he limped to the finish line.
He appears to be healthy now, and the Yankees will be able to protect Judge and Juan Soto in some way.
“When you have [Stanton] “If we can get guys in the middle of the lineup and hit those big home runs, it's going to add depth to this lineup and really take the pressure off a lot of guys,” Judge said.
