Yankees fans are starting to see the Giancarlo Stanton they expected when he joined the pinstripes in the offseason.
Stanton batted .298 with eight home runs in June and is even hotter over his last 11 games batting .378 with three homers, four doubles and nine RBIs. However, manager Aaron Boone believes the reigning NL MVP will only get better.
“I think there’s another gear,” Boone said Wednesday (via the New York Post) after a 6-2 win over the Braves that included a three-run Stanton homer. “We’ve seen that other gear when he ran off and won the MVP. He won that MVP on the strength of a couple months that were historically great. I would never put anything past a guy with his ability and his talent and his skill set. Whether we see that kind of run, I don’t know, but all I know is we’re starting to see a consistent performer that I feel like is putting himself in a good position night in and night out.
“Does that mean he goes on a run like last year? That would be great, but who knows? It’s certainly in there. We’ve seen it.”
Stanton tall. Stanton strong. Stanton proud. pic.twitter.com/fSoyVAePa7
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) July 4, 2018
Stanton credits his latest surge to better preparation. He’s erased the memory of a rocky March/April in which he hit .230 with 43 strikeouts, but agreed with Boone in that he’s still working toward peak performance.
“(I’m) close,” Stanton said. “I’m getting there. I still have work to do, but it’s good for right now. … In the box, I feel pretty close to where I need to be.”
So far in 2018, Stanton is batting .267/.338/.515 with 21 home runs and 51 RBIs.