Aaron Judge is the Yankees’ most prolific batter. However, he is not the most powerful of the current Yankees hitter. That title belongs to Giancarlo Stanton, who hit the hardest ball in baseball every single season for a long time.
“Of the Yankees’ 10 hardest hit balls in 2022, 9 belonged to Giancarlo Stanton,” Talkin’ Yanks tweeted.
He can hit balls faster than 120 mph and the Yankees’ exit velocity king.
Even though Stanton only played 110 games and hit .211 last season, he still hit 31 home runs. If he plays enough games for the Yankees, he will easily reach that number again.
This year Stanton played a big role in the Yankees’ success, even though Aaron Judge got most of the attention for setting a record with 62 home runs in 2022.
Giancarlo Stanton, who used to go by the name Mike Stanton, became a standout player while playing for the Marlins. The Yankees noticed him after he hit 59 home runs and drove in 132 runs in 2017.
The Marlins tied Giancarlo Stanton with a 13-year deal in 2014 after his progress to becoming a top-rated player. The contract had a total value of $325 million. At the time, this was the most money-making deal in sports history. The Yankees felt the penchant to get Stanton after he won the MVP Award for his 2017 season.
Stanton arrived in New York following a trade in 2018. At that time his Florida deal had 10 years left and the Yankees took it over. He was the second player in history to be traded after hitting 50 home runs in a single season. In 2026, the Marlins will start sending some of Stanton’s salary to the Yankees.
Stanton yet to shows his best for the Yankees
Stanton’s first year with the Yankees, 2018, witnessed him making 38 homers and 100 runs. He missed all of 2019 because of a series of injuries. Stanton only played in 18 games in 2019 and 23 games in the short-lived Covid season. In 2021, he went up to 139, but in 2022, he went back down to 110.
Stanton hit 31 home runs and drove in 78 runs in 2022. He was named to the All-Star team for the first time since 2018. Stanton played a big role in the ALDS against the Cleveland Guardians. He hit two home runs and drove in six runs over the course of the six-game series.
But his 2022 season might have been the worst of his whole career, and the numbers back that up. Stanton hit .211 and had a .297 OBP. The player was still able to hit with a lot of power and speed. He was especially good in the first half of the season, which got him an All-Star spot. But the second half of the year was terrible, which may have been because of a painful calf injury.
With a price tag of about $32 million per year, Stanton is the Yankees’ third highest-paid player. As the 2023 season starts, his team is sure to have high hopes from him. Since Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo, and Stanton are at the top of their lineup, youngsters, such as Gleyber Torres and Jose Trevino, must help them score second and third runs.
What do you think? Leave your comment below.
