New York Yankees Manager Aaron Boone spoke out on potential lineup changes in an attempt to get slugger Giancarlo Stanton out of his early-season funk.
According to Bryan Hoch, New York Yankees slugger, Giancarlo Stanton, could be getting moved down in the lineup for the upcoming series with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Aaron Boone said he might consider moving Giancarlo Stanton down in the lineup during the Blue Jays series, but “not too far.”
— Bryan Hoch (@BryanHoch) April 18, 2018
Has it really come to this? After all the excitement surrounding the acquisition of Stanton this offseason and his two-homer showing on Opening Day, Aaron Boone has seen enough to warrant a slight slide in the lineup for Stanton.
The National League MVP has 29 strikeouts in 66 at-bats and more than half of those strikeouts have come at Yankee Stadium, where he has been showered with boos. Stanton is having bad at-bats and at times just looks absolutely lost at the plate, the one spot where he was expected to be an impact player.
And yea you know what? Maybe the boos and criticism have been warranted. So far this year, especially at home in one of the most hitter-friendly ballparks in the country, Giancarlo Stanton has stunk. Yankee fans expect a lot from our team and its players so when we see consistently poor performances, we tend to get upset about it.
But it’s important for fans to remember, now more than ever, this is a slump.
This man is the reigning National League MVP. He is adjusting to a new team in a new stadium while facing new pitching and new climates. He is too talented to continue being this unproductive over the course of the season. Boone gave him time to work out of the slump on his own but now it’s time to seek alternative methods to jumpstart one of the three centerpieces of this potentially deadly offense.
So yes, Giancarlo Stanton might get moved down in the lineup. If Boone goes through with the move, Stanton will likely slide no lower than fifth. The pressure will be lifted off of his shoulders and he’ll go back to smoking baseballs the way we all know he’s capable of. Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez and Didi Gregorius are more than capable of holding down the heart of the order while Stanton works out whatever issues he’s having.
Most importantly let’s all remember that it’s only April. The Yankees are getting absolutely killed by the weather. Injuries have struck at such a high rate that fans are starting to suspect Ray Ramirez has somehow infiltrated the training staff. The talent on this team is still coming together.
Yet despite all of this, the Yankees are treading water in the standings.
Stanton and the Yankees are going to be just fine.
