After a brutal career-worst season, New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton is motivated to not only turn the page on the 2023 season, but to use 2024 as a way to change the narrative on the kind of player he is.
“I gotta change the narrative,” Stanton said, according to ESPN’s David Shoenfield.
Stanton, 34, reported to Yankees spring training as Monday and is looking to rebound from hitting .191/.275/.420 in 101 games last season, which drew criticism from general manager Brian Cashman, who told reporters that Stanton is “going to wind up getting hurt again, more likely than not, because it seems to be part of his game.”
Those numbers are a far cry from when Stanton was coming off a 59-homer season with the Marlins back in 2017 when the Yankees initially acquired him in the hopes of forming a devastating tandem with MVP slugger Aaron Judge.
However, Stanton has never come close to being the player he was in Miami.
Stanton has posted three 30-homer seasons, including 2021 (35) and 2022 (31), during his stint with the Yankees, but injuries have severely limited him.
“I have to stay on the field,” Stanton said. “The start/stopping is not ideal. I need to play and not be on the sidelines.”
The Yankees are hoping he can, as Stanton still has four years remaining on a 13-year, $325 million contract he originally signed with the Marlins and will make $32 million in 2024.
“It’s not a rebuild of confidence. It’s a big stack of things that weren’t aligned, and this is a new year and after this I’m not talking about last year too much,” Stanton said. “I don’t get paid to be a stand-up guy. I’m here to produce and help us win a championship.”
