Giancarlo Stanton: If Only 2019

By Mike Whiteman March 18, 2025 Like many fans, I'm not surprised by Giancarlo Stanton's recent injury setbacks. Brian Cashman once said that injuries "seem to be part of his game", and sadly he was right. This year, elbow (both) and calf injuries look to have the Yankee slugger absent from the lineup until Memorial Day at the earliest. Baseball injuries are funny things, and a player like Stanton, who is in probably better shape than 99% of the general public, is considered "brittle". It's a shame to see, as by all indications Stanton is a good guy, a very hard worker, and highly respected as a teammate. He's one of my favorites, and his at bats are still "must watch" for me due to his ability to turn on a pitch anytime and crush the ball at high speeds and long distances. Stanton's heroics in the 2024 postseason - seven home runs, 16 RBI in 14 games, ALCS Most Valuable Player award - on top of his 429 career home runs inspired a little chatter about his Hall of Fame worthiness. It was intriguing enough to make me to take a second look at Stanton's career. My verdict: not a bad career, but not Cooperstown quality. But I also think he could have been closer if not for 2019.

Remember the excitement in December 2017, when the Yankees acquired the reigning National League MVP in a deal with the Marlins. Stanton had smacked 59 home runs, 132 RBI, .631 slugging in one of the greatest slugging seasons of all time. He was heading into his age 28 season, in his prime, and was poised to team up with Aaron Judge, who had completed his rookie season with 52 homers of his own. Optimism abounded, and this looked to be another historical duo in a franchise that knew historical duos.

Stanton had a good 2018 season, hitting 38 home runs and driving in 100 while playing 158 games, splitting between left and right fields and designated hitter. Combined with Judge's season that was derailed by a broken wrist due to a hit by pitch in that July, and the legendary pairing had gotten off to a slow start. Things looked good though for 2019, with a promise of recovery by Judge and Stanton ready to thrive in his second season in the Bronx, much like Roger Clemens and Alex Rodriguez. It didn't quite work out that way. Stanton suffered a a biceps injury in the first series of the season which kept him sidelined until June, when he sprained his knee and was absent until September. Stanton's doomed 2019 found him playing only 18 games. Remember the context of 2019 - baseballs were flying out of the ballparks with the average American League team ripping 232 dingers. For perspective, the 1961 Yankees hit 240 home runs as a team, which was the MLB record at the time and it stood up until 1996. In that hitting atmosphere, a healthy Stanton in 2019 hits at least 40 home runs, and pushes towards 50. Make just one change in Stanton's career, a healthy and productive 2019, and everything changes. Stanton would come into 2025 maybe 460/470 home runs, and a decent chance to someday reach 500. No player, aside from those with PED chatter, hit 500 home runs and didn't make it to the Hall. Per my understanding, Stanton has had zero PED connections, not even a whisper, This doesn't even take into account the 2020 season, where due to COVID restrictions the season was reduced to 60 games. A full season may well have added at least another 30 home runs. Of course, we can "what if" about a lot of players and their careers. Looking back though, 2019 was crucial to Stanton's cratering HOF dreams. He was solid in 2018 and in 2021, which would indicate to me that he was a still darned good hitter in 2019 and would have flourished if physically able. Now, I'm not trying to write an obituary on Stanton's career here. Certainly he could regain a level of health, play three more mostly complete seasons and get close to 500. I'm not overly optimistic about this, and could see a scenario in which the Yanks release him if he struggles after the Marlins start paying some of his salary in 2026.

While we as Yankee fans can't be blamed for looking at Stanton's tenure in Pinstripes with a "what if" remorse, it's important to acknowledge the fine career he's had. Seven years of 30+ home runs, a historical MVP season of 2019, his postseason batting record, an All-Star game MVP. Not too shabby.

Not Cooperstown worthy though. Oh if we only had a re-do of 2019.