Many MLB fans watching this year’s playoffs have been surprised to see how slow New York Yankees DH Giancarlo Stanton has looked running the bases in the playoffs. The reason behind his shocking speed was revealed this week.
For newer fans of the sport of the Yankees, Giancarlo Stanton seems like a very expensive player who offers very little on the field and seems to get hurt all the time. However, during the previous decade, the slugger was one of the best players in the game.
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Between 2010 and 2017, Stanton earned All-Star honors five times and won the National League MVP award in ’17. He had a gun for an arm and was an elite power hitter who nearly hit 60 homers the year he was the NL’s most valuable player. However, for much of his career injuries have constantly haunted him. And that has only gotten worse as he aged.
Yankees fans have seen the worst version of the 34-year-old during his 37 years in New York. And he has seemingly hit a new physical low this season. It has become noticeable how slow Stanton is when running the bases in 2024, and it nearly cost them in their Game 1 victory over the Kansas City Royals in their Divisional Round series.
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It was actually something Aaron Boone was asked about after the game and he explained why Stanton has looked so bad when running around the bases.
“It’s a controlled gait that he knows he has to get into,” Boone said [via The Athletic]. “He’s burned himself when he tries to throttle back up or down. That’s when he knows he’s been (compromised). It is something you kind of have to live with.
“Whether you’ve seen it over the years with a particular player who is incredibly slow but still impactful, it’s just something we have to accept. He’s got to do what he’s got to do”,” Boone said” he added. “He’s trying to reach his top speed in the most fluid way he can.”
So if the New York Yankees need a key run in a game during these playoffs that requires a player to bust it from base to base, fans better hope Stanton isn’t doing the running.
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