New York Yankees star Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 25th home run with a 436-foot, two-run drive into the fountain behind the center-field seats, but it wasn't the most impressive dinger in New York's 10-1 win over the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday.
Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton followed Judge in the seventh with a 446-foot shot to center against reliever Nick Anderson for his 16th home run of the season.
Giancarlo Stanton clears all of the walls on this 446-foot blast!
The blast, which looked to be further than 446 feet, left Judge scratching his head in the Yankees dugout.
Back in the lineup after his first game off this season on Monday night, Judge hit his 21st homer in his last 41 games and also singled in the Yankees' first run of the game. Judge raised his average to .309 and is hitting an astonishing .419 with 44 RBI in his last 35 games after batting just .197 through May 2.
Giancarlo Stanton bouncing back for Yankees
There's no denying that the Yankees were disappointed in Stanton and his performance last season.
His offensive performance was a major problem. The slugger did hit 24 home runs in 415 plate appearances, but they came along with a horrible .191/.275/.420 line and a career-worst .695 OPS.
His OPS, in fact, has been trending down for a while: it was .870 in 2021, .759 last year, and .695 in the season that just ended. He has surpassed 400 trips to the plate in those three campaigns, a better record of health than in 2019-2020, but Stanton has not produced like the feared hitter of old when on the field.
Headed into 2024, Yankees slugger Aaron Judge and manager Aaron Boone raved about what they were seeing from Stanton in spring training.
“‘Impressive to see him back doing what he does,' Judge said.
‘He’s looked good all spring from the start,' manager Aaron Boone said. ‘I feel he’s been in control of his at-bats. He was really precise, and when he’s like that, he’s pretty scary.'
‘I just see a guy in the batter’s box who’s a lot calmer in his approach,' hitting coach James Rowson said this spring. ‘I think I’m watching a guy who’s not very anxious to do things but it’s more about allowing the game to come to him a little bit. I think his alignment at the plate is very good, just in terms of making sure his torso is squared up. I think he’s kind of checking the boxes of being in a good position to hit. Now, it’s a matter of seeing more pitches.'”
Stanton also has lost significant weight. While the move was made with the goal of staying on the field longer, it also is clearly affecting his performance so far in 2024. This season, Stanton is hitting .229, with 16 home runs and 38 RBIs. His .766 OPS through 60 games is on track to be his highest since the 2021 season.
