Inside The Pinstripes

Giancarlo Stanton Says Playing Outfield ‘Helps’ Focus at the Plate

An offensive hot streak has overlapped with Stanton’s return to the outfield. The Yankees slugger doesn’t think that’s a coincidence.

Gary Phillips

Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

Giancarlo Stanton averaged over 117 games in the outfield per year during his eight seasons with the Marlins, but he has rarely been tasked with defensive work since joining the Yankees.

A reliable fielder during most of his campaigns in Florida, Stanton needed his glove just 73 times in 2018, his debut season with the Yankees and in the American League. With frequent access to the designated hitter role, Stanton saw even less action in 2019, playing a mere 13 times in the field.

Stanton didn’t even require leather last year, as he made zero appearances in the outfield. This year was much of the same through the first four months of the season.

The 31-year-old has battled various injuries throughout his time in New York, so limiting Stanton to the DH position has served as an attempt to keep him healthy and his potent bat in the lineup. But the Yankees lacked contributing outfielders earlier this season and acquired other big hitters before the trade deadline in Joey Gallo and Anthony Rizzo. With Rizzo taking Luke Voit’s first base position, Stanton could no longer be a full-time DH if the Yankees wanted to maximize their offensive production.

So Stanton’s lengthy outfield hiatus ended on July 30 when New York visited the Marlins. He has played either right or left field in 11 of his last 23 games. He hasn’t made an error yet, though the sample is still small.

Stanton has raked ever since he started playing the field again. He’s slashing .316/.429/.579 with five homers and 18 RBI since July 30. He doesn’t believe it’s a coincidence that his hot stretch at the plate has coincided with his return to the outfield.

“I think it’s helped kind of not just focusing on hitting,” Stanton said after the Yankees’ 5-1 win over the Braves on Monday. “You always want to be your best in the box and feel like you’re in the best mind frame. But that also means turning it off for a second and using that focus somewhere else. So yeah, being out there… it helps in some way.”

Stanton’s comments followed a 2-for-3 night at the plate that fueled the Yankees’ 10th straight victory. Stanton first flicked his 21st homer of the year the opposite way in the second inning. He then broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth with a 119.2-mph, two-run double.

Aaron Boone double-switched Stanton out of the game shortly thereafter for defensive purposes, a common practice late in games by the manager since Stanton began playing the field again.

Unlike Stanton, Boone didn’t want to draw quick conclusions about a correlation between the slugger’s fielding and hitting. “Sometimes it’s just baseball and the ebb and flow of the season,” the skipper said of Stanton’s offensive surge, though he added that “it’s very possible that being out there has helped him a little bit.”

“I think if anything, maybe physically it’s helped him,” Boone said. “Moving around and keeping his body going in the game, I think that’s something that’s been beneficial for him.”

Either way, Boone has been pleased with Stanton’s defense. In other words, continuing to play him in the field is a viable option for a team that could use the flexibility.

“He’s played a really good outfield for us,” Boone said. “It’s been a seamless transition right back out there. Looks like he’s been playing regularly all year the last couple of years.”

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Gary Phillips
GARY PHILLIPS

A graduate of Seton Hall, Gary Phillips has written and/or edited for The Athletic, The New York Times, Sporting News, USA Today Sports’ Jets Wire, Bleacher Report and Yankees Magazine, among others. He can be reached at garyhphillips@outlook.com.

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