Giancarlo Stanton made a bold prediction regarding the number of home runs he would hit if he knew what pitch was coming.
Giancarlo Stanton hit 59 home runs and won the National League MVP in 2017. That was the same year that the Houston Astros are confirmed to have illegally stolen signs.
Now, with the New York Yankees, Stanton decided to speculate on how many homers he would hit if he had the same advantage the Astros had.
Giancarlo Stanton: "If I knew what was coming in 2017, I would have hit 80 home runs."
— Lindsey Adler (@lindseyadler) February 19, 2020
The number he settled on was at least 80.
This quote falls in line with the thing fans love most about this Yankees team. They aren’t giving the cookie-cutter PR statement regarding this scandal. They’re addressing the issue head-on, commenting on its progression rather than saying “Major League Baseball can worry about that we’re just getting ready for the season.”
And to Stanton’s point, he may very well have hit 80 home runs if he knew what pitch was coming. He may well have hit even more.
Every pitcher in baseball knows that Stanton is susceptible to the low and away slider. They attack him high and inside with fastballs before punching him out on that pitch.
Imagine if Stanton knew it was coming.
Gone would be the Twitter haters shouting “he strikes out too much” at clouds. Forgotten would be the articles written about how Stanton perfectly encapsulates the new age hitter in his “homer or strikeout” approach.
Stanton would simply mash home runs. The only hope opposing teams would have is Stanton just missing on a pitch and hitting a 120 mph line drive right at a defender.
It’s probably safe to say those defenders would rather him round the bases.
Either way, Stanton joined a nice list of Yankees that are openly criticizing the Houston Astros during the fallout of this scandal.
