Somewhere there are a few Miami Marlins fans who are smiling because of the poor start Giancarlo Stanton of the New York Yankees is experiencing. Even with his new ball club, the slugger is catching his share of grief for a start that is of epic proportions.
As he stood in front of his home locker Sunday evening, fresh off another day of booing in the Bronx, there was only one way for Stanton to sum up his feelings after he went 3-for-28 (.107) with 16 strikeouts in his first six games officially donning the pinstripes, ESPN.com’s Coley Harvey explained.
“Just got to look at it as a bad week,” said Stanton, who heard it from angry fans following a 12th-inning strikeout that ended Sunday’s game in an 8-7 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.
Giancarlo Stanton came up I-95 from south Florida after he forced the Marlins’ hand and worked a trade that sent second baseman Starlin Castro and minor leaguers to Miami. When Stanton met with the media to discuss the week he had, he reminded those listening, the season is much longer than one week.
“A couple of good games, and I could turn it around and help us win.”
Stanton and slugger Aaron Judge are expected to set records as the new Bronx Bombers. Add catcher Gary Sanchez and shortstop Didi Gregorius to the middle of the lineup and new Yankees manager Aaron Boone could have his own version of a Murderer’s Row.
Judge also talked to the media and echoed what Giancarlo Stanton said – it’s still a long season and plenty of baseball still to be played.
“We’re going to look back on this in August and laugh about it,” Judge said. “It’s just all about us and making adjustments like I know he will. He’s done it his whole career. Stanton’s a great hitter.”
The knock against Stanton comes from the monster season he had last year when he won the National League MVP by belting 59 home runs and collecting 132 RBI. Per Harvey, after his first 10 games with the Yankees, Stanton has some questioning whether they are witnessing the same player.
Along with his 0-for-7, five-strikeout performance in Sunday’s loss, Stanton went hitless and posted five strikeouts in his Yankees home debut on Tuesday. Overall, Giancarlo Stanton is batting .167 (7-for-42) with 20 strikeouts and three home runs across his first 10 games with the Yankees. Of his 42 at-bats, 47.6 percent have ended in strikeouts.