Yankees' Slugger Giancarlo Stanton Breaks Statcast Again

The king of exit velocity absolutely pounded a baseball, even by his standards.

May 8, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton (27) hits a / Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Giancarlo Stanton can still hit a baseball really, really hard.

The New York Yankees' slugger has routinely hit some of the hardest hit balls in all of Major League Baseball since Statcast began tracking exit velocity in 2015. Although Stanton is now in his age-34 season and made noticeable changes to his physique and swing during the offseason, his incredible power and bat speed are still present and were on full display on both Tuesday and Wednesday night.

Entering Tuesday, Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers had the hardest-hit ball in the majors when he hit a single with a 119.2 mph exit velocity on April 27. Stanton, facing Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander, nearly matched Ohtani's mark when he hit a frozen rope with a 118.8 mph exit velocity; although it had a launch angle of just 15 degrees, it traveled 421 feet and landed into the visitor's bullpen in left-center field for a home run. It was, at the time, the hardest-hit homer of the year.

118.8 mph. 421 ft.

Big G Blast 🔥 pic.twitter.com/1vY6UWhID6

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 8, 2024

The next night, Stanton one-upped himself - and Ohtani.

In the bottom of the third inning on Wednesday night, Stanton faced struggling Astros starter Spencer Arrighetti and on a 1-2 count, got a hanging curveball that was center-cut. He got every stitch of the ball and sent a laser that landed into the left field second deck in the blink of an eye. Stanton hit the ball just shy of 120 mph - with an unfathomable 119.9 mph exit velocity; in comparison to the home run the previous night, this one had a bit more elevation, with a 20 degree launch angle.

119.9 mph Blast.

Big G one-ups himself 🤯 pic.twitter.com/wElCFgpCG9

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 8, 2024

Batting either cleanup or fifth in the lineup, Stanton has eight home runs on the year, tied with Aaron Judge (who also homered on Wednesday) for the second-most on the team (Juan Soto, who also hit a homer on Wednesday, has nine). Although he only has a .228 batting average, his .472 slugging percentage has given the Yankees a fearsome heart of the order that finally appears to be clicking.