TAMPA – In case Giancarlo Stanton’s words were not enough, he also had the look of someone who was ready to throw the worst season of his career in the trash and begin anew.
A noticeably slimmer Stanton reported to spring training Monday following an offseason in which his workouts were “more movement-based” with a simple goal in mind.
“Be a baseball player again,” Stanton said at his locker at Steinbrenner Field. “I just needed to be more mobile. A lot of setbacks [last season] kept me not moving the way I’d like to be.”
Stanton said he did more running over the offseason than years past, and while he declined to reveal his weight, he also said “there will be some changes” to his swing.
The 34-year-old said he did not care that people may be writing him off, but he also acknowledged the reality when asked if he needed to prove he should still get everyday at-bats.
“If you don’t produce, there’s going to be adjustments and ways, in any aspects, to make the lineup as optimal as possible,” he said. “So, it’s my job to do that.”
Physical and mechanical adjustments were necessary after a season in which Stanton hit .191 with a .695 OPS – both career-lows – in 101 games.
He missed six weeks early with a hamstring strain and never looked fully right upon returning, with his production falling off as the season went on.
Stanton’s history of lower-body issues led general manager Brian Cashman to say over the offseason, “He’s going to wind up getting hurt again more likely than not because it seems to be part of his game.”
While Cashman’s next sentence was about Stanton being a “great hitter” when he’s healthy, the first part created a stir with Stanton’s agent, Joel Wolfe, coming to his defense with a statement that warned free agents about signing in New York.
“[Cashman] knows my reaction to that,” Stanton said Monday.
Stanton, who has four years left on his contract with $98 million owed to him by the Yankees, has communicated with Cashman since those remarks but said the two are OK now.
Coming off what he described as his “first fully healthy offseason in a long time,” Stanton knows he needs to translate that into results.
“I’m here to produce and help us win a championship,” he said. “That hasn’t happened and it needs to. The noise back and forth, whatever, it needs to be done. I don’t listen to noise. I understand the facts and that’s what hasn’t happened.”
Credit: Source link
