NEW YORK — Nobody in the Yankee Stadium crowd saw it coming. Nobody in the Yankees dugout, by all appearances, expected it either. And when 6-foot-6 Giancarlo Stanton broke from first base and slid safely into second in the seventh inning on Saturday night, the reaction was the same everywhere.
Shock. Then delight. Then an explosion of noise.
The Yankees were already in the middle of a wild 9-7 comeback win over the Miami Marlins when Stanton, the designated hitter who has spent much of his Yankees career on the injured list, decided to manufacture a run with his legs. It was the kind of moment that lives in the brain long after the final out.
New York improved to 7-1 on the young 2026 season. The win was their fourth straight. But the night will be remembered for what one man with 245 pounds of muscle did on the base paths when no one was paying attention.
A career marked by power and pain
When the Yankees traded for Giancarlo Stanton before the 2018 season, they were acquiring one of the most dangerous hitters in baseball. In his first year in pinstripes, he slugged 38 home runs and drove in 100. He also stole five bases that season, which at the time felt like a nice bonus from a player his size.
Then came the injuries. A right biceps strain. A right knee issue. Left hamstring problems, twice. Right ankle inflammation. Left Achilles tendinitis. Over the next five seasons, Stanton missed 266 of 708 scheduled regular-season games. He still hit when healthy, but the durability question never left.
Last season was the lowest point. Inflammation in the tendons of both elbows kept him out of New York’s first 70 games. He returned to hit .273 with 24 homers, 66 RBIs and a .944 OPS in 77 games, which was genuinely impressive given the circumstances. But fans had stopped expecting the version of Stanton who looked like the best hitter in the National League.
This season, the version that first arrived in the Bronx appears to be back.
The number that stopped the crowd cold
Stanton entered Saturday hitting .393 through the first week of the season. He was 5-for-10 with runners in scoring position, the most valuable at-bats on any baseball field. His last regular-season stolen base was Aug. 3, 2020. His total career stolen bases in the regular season entering Saturday stood at 42.
In the seventh inning, with the Yankees leading Miami 5-4 and J.C. Escarra at the plate, Stanton walked to lead off. The Marlins were not holding him. With Escarra taking a cutter from Calvin Faucher for strike one, Stanton simply took off.
He slid with his right foot, beat the throw from catcher Agustin Ramirez, and raised a fist as the safe call came down. The stolen base was his 43rd in the regular season across a career that began in 2010 and his first in the regular season since the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign.
“If they’re going to give it to me, I got to go get it” Stanton said.
Escarra then grounded out to shortstop, advancing Stanton to third. Moments later, Stanton trotted home standing up on a passed ball by Ramirez during an at-bat by Jose Caballero. The Yankees led 6-4. The stadium was roaring.
The dugout reacts
Cameras caught Gerrit Cole, Will Warren and others on their feet in the Yankees dugout, laughing and throwing their hands up as Stanton crossed the plate. Left fielder Cody Bellinger, who hit the first homer of his Yankees tenure earlier in the game and added a go-ahead sacrifice fly, could not contain himself.
“That was good. The boys were fired up and that was a huge extra run there obviously. He’s just playing really well and it’s really good to see” Bellinger said.
Manager Aaron Boone kept his reaction brief but enthusiastic.
“Awesome, awesome” Boone said of the stolen base. “It’s a scoring competition, not a hit competition.”
The stolen base was part of a broader baserunning theme the Yankees have emphasized early in 2026. New York entered Sunday with 12 steals in 15 attempts through their first eight games, the best success rate in the American League. The team finished with 134 steals in the entire 2025 season. The pace through one week suggests they intend to be far more aggressive on the basepaths this year.
Then came the bat
If the stolen base was the story of the seventh inning, Stanton saved the best for the eighth. The Yankees entered the bottom of the frame tied 6-6 after reliever Camilo Doval allowed a tying two-run double to Javier Sanoja. Miami reliever Michael Petersen then walked Ryan McMahon and Aaron Judge to put two runners on with two out. Ben Rice drew another walk to load the bases.
Stanton stepped in with the chance to put the Yankees back in front. On a two-strike count, he hit a ground ball toward shortstop Otto Lopez. The ball hopped past Lopez and into left field. McMahon and Judge scored. Yankees led 8-6.
A passed ball by Ramirez pushed Ben Rice home moments later, making it 9-6. David Bednar allowed a run in the ninth but closed it out for his fourth save of the season.
Stanton finished the night with two RBIs, one stolen base and one run scored. He did it with his bat and his legs, which is something Yankees fans had not seen in a very long time.
“I’m going to take what they give me, understand where I’m at each day and put us in a good opportunity to win” Stanton said.
Giancarlo Stanton: career context and 2026 early-season numbers
| Season / Context | Games | HR | RBI | Notes |
| 2018 (1st yr, NYY) | 158 | 38 | 100 | 5 SB |
| 2020 (last reg. SB) | 23 | — | — | Last steal before 2026 |
| 2024 ALDS Gm 3 | Postseason | — | — | Stole 2nd vs. Royals |
| 2025 (partial) | 77 | 24 | 66 | .944 OPS, missed 70 games |
| 2026 (thru Apr. 5) | 8 | 1 | — | .393 avg, 5-for-10 w/RISP; 43rd career SB |
What it means for the Yankees
The Yankees are 7-1. Max Fried, their ace, carries a 0.00 ERA through 13.1 innings heading into Sunday’s series finale against Miami. The offense has drawn 21 walks over the past two nights alone. The base-stealing is working. And now Stanton, the player injury has taken away more than anyone in this lineup over the past six years, is healthy, hitting .393 and stealing bases.
It is still April. The numbers will settle. But right now, the New York Yankees look like a team that has found another gear, and the man who kicked it into that gear on Saturday night may have done more than simply score a run.
He reminded an entire ballpark what it looks like when Giancarlo Stanton is all the way in.
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