The Yankees were struggling in the cold winds of a brutal March and early April and Giancarlo Stanton was having K nightmares as the former Miami Marlins star unsuccessfully attempted to hit in 30-degree weather as he adjusted to the pressure, expectations, crappy Spring weather and relentless ribbing of Yankees fans. He blessed baseball with two homers on opening day and then the Ides of March spilled into April and the boos were fast and furious.
High Heat Stats on Twitter
Giancarlo Stanton now has more strikeouts since 2015 (435) than Tony Gwynn had in his entire 20-year career (434).
Boston jumped out to an incredible 15-2 start and people acted as if the 162-game marathon was decided. The Yankees were clawing their way back to .500 and Boston was putting the beats on everybody.
Boston.com Red Sox News on Twitter
The Red Sox rank first in the MLB in win percentage (.882, 15-2), run differential (+60), and average runs per game (6.35).
Fast forward to April 30th and the weather in New York is hitting the mid-60s and the Yankees and Giancarlo are all heating up right along with the forecast.
Now 18-10, the Yankees outscored opponents 64-18 during a nine-game winning streak that moved them within two games of their AL East rival Boston Red Sox before finally losing a close 2-1 game on Monday night against the World Champion Astros. Thats how it is in baseball. You cant judge a full season by one month of success or failure. The Yankees are getting power performances so far from Aaron Judge and Didi Gregorius and Gary Sanchez.
New York Yankees on Twitter
Talk about getting In-N-Out. https://t.co/ZffMRSx6Z0
Even when Stanton wasnt grooving early on, the Yankees had many other options to offer him support until he popped off. Stanton is coming and the Yankees offense that has been so prolific of late will be even deadlier when he goes on one of his huge tears. Over the past seven games, Stanton is hitting .357 with a home run and showing signs of breaking out and adding some more dingers to the five he currently has.
Judge has a quiet seven homers, but hes hitting .317 and his OBP is .449. DiDi is having an MVP April and is leading the league in homers (10) RBIs (30) slugging percentage and a bunch of other categories. Hes assumed the power identities of Stanton and Judge who are both still trying to get into full swing.
YES Network on Twitter
Aaron Judge knows the secret to the Yankees’ success: Just keep getting on base for Didi. https://t.co/VCdTrGYcIt
Judge and Stanton are not at their best yet but have already answered the question of whether or not New York can fit two stars of their magnitude in one media boiling pot. Its working out to perfection and its only April. Baseball gets you into a groove and as soon as you expect a result, the game strangles your confidence and flips the script. It’s all about riding the rough waters until you find that flow and the Yankees are on a wave thats growing game by game.
