With Giancarlo Stanton now seven games into his 2025 season, Aaron Boone feels the designated hitter is in a “pretty good place right now.”
The Yankees manager shared that assessment with reporters on Monday following a 6-1 loss to the Reds. The evening saw Stanton go 1-for-4 with a single and three strikeouts. Each K came with runners in scoring position, though Stanton was hardly the only Yankee to struggle in such situations in the series-opener.
“There’s going to be swing-and-miss in G’s game,” Boone said, per the YES Network. “That’s part of it.”
Stanton has racked up eight strikeouts in his last three games, but he’s still hitting .304 with a .360 on-base percentage thus far in his return from tennis elbow injuries, which cost him all of spring training and the first two and a half months of the season. However, he has a .348 slugging percentage and just one extra-base hit.
He’s still waiting on his first home run of the season.
The good news is that Stanton, known for his blistering bat speed and exit velocities, is stinging the ball like he always has when he connects. His first-inning single on Monday came at 109.8 mph, after all.
With that in mind, Boone said Stanton has been on time at the plate and tracking the ball well. However, the skipper would like to see Stanton elevate the ball more going forward.
Stanton has just a 21.4% flyball rate so far. Meanwhile, his groundball rate is 64.3%.
Those numbers will surely balance out as his sample grows, though.
“Some of his best shots have been a low liner or ball on the ground,” Boone said. “I think the next step is getting some balls a little bit more airborne. But I feel like he’s recognizing pitches pretty well.”
