The season is still young and there can be a lot of ups and downs for New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton. Most people started to give up on him after his 2018 playoff disaster, and with injuries n 2019, he was determined to change. After that loss in the 2019 ALCS against the Houston Astros, he worked on himself. Not only did he change how he hit, but he changed his body too, and he’s ready to shred.
Weight Changes to Get Healthier
Giancarlo Stanton wasn’t overweight or unhealthy in his career. In fact, his size and strength are arguably his greatest attributes to his power. He’s an athletic and quick dude, but he realized the source of his injuries.
He wasn’t overweight but his size made injuries more frequent and common. He decided to take it upon himself and start losing weigh to trim excess weight so his body could support his strength and size. The result? Nearly 20 lost pounds according to Stanton, and he’s going to be able to stay on the field longer with a more sustainable size. Now his hitting mechanics and philosophy have ALSO changed and caused an increase in run production.
Better Plate Discipline
When it comes to chases and whiffs, Stanton was seen as the king of that in 2018 for Yankee fans. This season he’s cut down his chases. Giancarlo Stanton had a +28.5% chase percentage in both seasons as a Yankee. In 2020 so far? He’s at a 19.7%, which is very good for a guy who was known for striking out a ton. He also cut down the strikeout % to 20.7% which is better than the average hitter and almost 8% better than his career average. He’s also increased his walk% to 13.8 which is closer to that 2017 plate discipline.
With more walks and giving pitchers less leeway with breaking balls, Stanton is back and here’s here to take names.