Yankees' Giancarlo Stanton on pace for his best season yet: What's different

New York Times

a day ago

NEW YORK — Giancarlo Stanton has undergone a significant change with his swing that could be critical as the Yankees fight to hold on to the American League's third wild-card spot.
Throughout his career, one of the most frustrating parts of Stanton's game has been his high ground ball rate. For a slugger with his power, anything hit on the ground should be considered a win for opposing pitchers. Stanton is known as a prodigious home run hitter, but he has a higher ground ball rate than fly ball rate in his career. It's inexplicable for someone with 441 career home runs.
Advertisement
But Stanton is currently posting career-best numbers in his age-35 season. His 164 wRC+ would surpass the 158 he posted in his 2017 National League MVP season with the Miami Marlins. It's not a coincidence that Stanton is hitting the ball in the air more than he ever has before.
'Better things happen when I get it in the air,' Stanton said.
He's right.
Stanton has the highest average launch angle and the highest fly ball rate of his career in 2025. It's the ideal outcome for someone who can hit the ball 447 feet, like he did in the fifth inning of Tuesday night's 9-1 Yankees win over the Minnesota Twins. Stanton finished 4-for-5, his first four-hit game since Aug. 24, 2023. Any lingering doubt about how Stanton would produce coming off of tennis elbow in both arms should be gone. He's better than ever.
Greatness starts with G. @Giancarlo818 💣 pic.twitter.com/x77uy8AODO
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) August 13, 2025
'I think it's just the quality of the at-bat,' manager Aaron Boone said. 'He's controlling the strike zone, I feel like, as good as I've seen him. He's going up there with a good plan, and when he's getting the pitch he's looking for, he's doing damage with it. I think it starts with just really controlling the strike zone for him.'
Entering Tuesday's game, Stanton's chase rate was down 5.9 percentage points, while his walk rate was over 10 percent for the first time since 2022. That has coincided with Stanton posting a .376 on-base percentage, which would be his highest mark as a Yankee.
With how Stanton has been performing at the plate, it's given Boone no other option but to have him play right field, even with limited mobility. They need his bat in the middle of their order. So far, Stanton has held up fine in right field. He hasn't been tested much, and his body has recovered well the day after he plays the field.
Advertisement
Boone said Stanton could be an option in right field this coming weekend in St. Louis, even though he'd have to cover more ground at Busch Stadium.
Coming into the year, the Yankees had no plans of Stanton playing right field this season, and possibly ever again. But with Aaron Judge still working his way back from a right flexor tendon strain, it was Stanton who said he was willing to see if his body could handle it after numerous lower-body injuries.
'He's a leader,' Judge said. 'This guy's been one of the best in the game for quite a long time, and for him to come in and start the season — they kind of tell him just focus on hitting and just focus on coming back. It just speaks volume to the leadership. You know what he means to this team, and how it's it's about what we can do to put the best team out there on the field.'
Anything positive the Yankees can get from Stanton in the field is an added bonus, but his true value is what he provides when he's in the box. Among all hitters with at least 150 plate appearances this season, Stanton's .962 OPS is the fifth best in MLB behind Judge, Shohei Ohtani, Nick Kurtz and Ronald Acuña Jr.
Another area where Stanton has improved with his swing is by having his highest attack angle since Statcast started measuring the stat in 2023. Attack angle measures the vertical direction that the sweet spot of the bat is traveling at the moment it hits the baseball, per Statcast. A higher attack angle that also makes square contact is likelier to result in a fly ball.
Stanton's attack angle in 2023, a career-worst season for him, was 8 degrees. This year, it's 11 degrees. His ideal attack angle percentage, the swings that fall in the range of 5 degrees and 20 degrees, was 63.9 percent entering Tuesday's game. It was 57.3 percent in 2023 and 60.4 percent in 2024, respectively.
Advertisement
With his otherworldly power to all fields, there may not be a hitter in the sport who benefits more when he hits a ball in the air than Stanton. If he can continue this trend, don't be surprised if he finishes with the best numbers he's had in pinstripes.
'Ever since he's come back, he's been dialed in,' Judge said.
Spot the pattern. Connect the terms
Find the hidden link between sports terms
Play today's puzzle