Coming off a career-worst season, New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton knew he needed to make a big change this offseason heading into 2024.
That change was on full display as he reported to Yankees’ spring training in Tampa Bay, as Stanton looked very slim compared to his usual, muscular stature.
That’s not saying Stanton, who has crushed 402 homers in his 14-year MLB career, still isn’t going to be sending baseball over the fence this season. But his appearance was a calculated change this offseason, as he wanted a "more movement-based" build, per The New York Post.
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"Be a baseball player again," Stanton said when asked why he made this physical change. "I just needed to be more mobile. A lot of setbacks [last season] kept me not moving the way I’d like to be."
Now, Stanton wouldn’t reveal his weight, but it’s surely down from the 245 pounds he was at 6-foot-6 last season. He said he was running more this offseason, but his physical abilities go beyond just looking slimmer.
Stanton noted that he’ll also be making "some changes" to his swing from the right side of the plate, per The Post. The 2017 NL MVP hit a career-low .191 with a .275 on-base percentage in 101 games last season – production which he said himself was not good enough for a Yankees team that underachieved.
Now 34, Stanton knows he needs to produce on a team that is gunning for a World Series, something they haven’t appeared in since 2009 when they won it all.
"If you don’t produce, there’s going to be adjustments and ways, in any aspects, to make the lineup as optimal as possible," Stanton explained. "So, it’s my job to do that."
Stanton’s stature also has to do with the vast amount of injuries he’s battled in recent years. Last season, it was a hamstring strain that seemed to hamper his abilities even when he returned to the diamond. He infamously was thrown out at home plate during a day game at Yankee Stadium while jogging from second base on a base hit.
Even GM Brian Cashman understands that, at this point in his career, injuries in the lower body are going to happen to Stanton.
"He’s going to wind up getting hurt again more likely than not because it seems to be part of his game," Cashman said this offseason, per The Post.
Whether Stanton likes that remark from Cashman doesn’t seem to matter when he has dealt with long injury stints since becoming a Yankee in 2018.
But a new year brings a new opportunity, one Stanton is determined to make the best of.
"I’m here to produce and help us win a championship," he said. "That hasn’t happened and it needs to."
A healthy, and productive, Stanton is vital to a Yankees roster that also features the 2022 AL MVP Aaron Judge, as well as newcomer Juan Soto, who Cashman traded for this offseason to add more lefty pop in the outfield.
