New York Yankees’ designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton had quite a night on Friday, hitting two home runs and making sure the Bombers earned their third victory in the last four games. He hasn’t been having a good season, but last night may be the start of something good.
Yankees’ pitching coach Marcus Thames had told Stanton to get back to basics and improve his pitch selection. It sounds simple: lay off the balls, swing at strikes. Yet, in the game of baseball, there may not be a harder thing.
For a night, though, the Yankees’ slugger was just that: a slugger. He became the first player in the Statcast era to hit two home runs of more than 115 miles per hour in the same game.
“It’s nice to catch up to some fastballs, put the barrel on the ball and help us get a win,” Stanton said per the league’s official site. “One good game isn’t anything either, so I’ve got to just feed off of it.”
Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone was impressed
Stanton’s first bomb came against Logan Allen and traveled 429 feet, leaving the bat at 118 mph.
The next one came on a 0-2 count against Trevor Stephan, a 418-foot solo blast that was measured at 115.7 mph.
“It’s weird; it’s just different,” said manager Aaron Boone. “You just don’t see balls hit like that, and to hit two of them like he did in the game — it was two really impressive swings. When he’s locked in, when he hits them like that, it’s just different than anyone I’ve ever seen.”
The Yankees’ powerful hitter was on a 3-for-32 slump before last night.
“Obviously, I had to make an adjustment,” Stanton said. “Sooner or later, if you stick to it, it’s going to pan out. It’s already a failure-first sport, so it’s just sticking with something and making slight adjustments with that.”