After hitting four home runs, New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton was named MVP of the American League Championship Series following the Yankees’ five-game victory over the Cleveland Guardians.
Giancarlo Stanton delivered in clutch moments, smashing four homers, driving in seven runs, and posting a 1.222 OPS.
The 34-year-old tied up Game 5 with a towering two-run home run off Guardians right-hander Tanner Bibee. The blast traveled an estimated 446 feet with an exit velocity of 117.5 mph. This marked Giancarlo Stanton’s 16th postseason home run as a Yankee, surpassing Hall of Famers Babe Ruth and Aaron Judge for fourth on the franchise’s all-time postseason home run list.
“We’ve got it all,” Stanton said after the game. “We know what we have in this group, and we’re going to enjoy this moment right now, but we know there’s more work to do. It’s only uphill from here, and we have to get it done.”
Giancarlo Stanton’s dominance against the Guardians
Giancarlo Stanton has consistently tormented the Guardians in the postseason, a trend that continued in this series. All eight of his postseason hits against the Guardians have been home runs. Out of 38 players with five or more home runs against a single postseason opponent in MLB history, Stanton is the only one to have all of them as home runs. The next closest streak belongs to Jim Thome, who hit five against the Red Sox between 1995 and 1999.
Manager Aaron Boone slotted Stanton into the cleanup spot for Game 5, a position that has rotated between him, Jazz Chisholm Jr., and Austin Wells throughout the series. Boone didn’t offer deep insight into his decision, simply calling it “what I felt last night.” So far, it’s paid off. “He can hit the ball harder than anyone, first of all,” Boone said before Game 5. “There’s the physical aspect of what he does, which is different from just about everyone in the world. But he’s also incredibly disciplined — his approach, his process, the way he studies his opponents.”
Stanton’s home run came off Tanner Bibee, who had been dominant for 5 2/3 innings before Stanton’s big moment ended his outing. Bibee’s strong performance allowed Guardians manager Stephen Vogt to extend his start and manage a taxed bullpen carefully, but Stanton has the power to change a game — and the best-laid plans — in an instant.
As daunting as that may seem, Boone and the Yankees believe Stanton will only get better as the postseason progresses, especially in a series that heavily relies on bullpen matchups. If Stanton finished the 2023 season with Yankees fans eyeing him warily, he has now won them all over, not only by earning MVP honors but also by becoming the Yankees’ key player in the postseason.
“One thing we’ve talked about a lot over the years, and something we’ve noticed since his early years with the Yankees,” Boone explained, “is that when he sees pitchers repeatedly, he really benefits more than most. He’s shown throughout his career that he improves the more he faces the same opponents.”
In addition to Giancarlo Stanton’s 429 regular-season home runs, he now has 16 in the postseason — and counting. This is the most home runs by any player in his first 36 postseason games and places him fourth all-time in Yankees postseason history.
Yankees postseason HR leaders
- Bernie Williams: 22
- Derek Jeter: 20
- Mickey Mantle: 18
- Giancarlo Stanton: 16
- Babe Ruth: 15
- Aaron Judge: 15
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