Yankees Just Proved They Desperately Need Giancarlo Stanton Back

The New York Yankees have a Giancarlo Stanton-sized hole in their lineup. They’ve been without him for the past month due to a hamstring injury. His absence is a glaring problem, as the Yankees are 8-14 since he went down. Stanton is slashing .246/.302/.492, with 18 home runs and 45 RBIs in 69 games. With Stanton’s return expected in a week or less, the Yankees will soon have back a critical part of their lineup.

Juan Soto and Aaron Judge are two of the best hitters in baseball, and they are both in the Yankees’ lineup. But opposing pitchers only have to pitch to Soto. While Judge bats third behind Soto, there’s no one behind Judge to protect him.

The Yankees have tried several different players in the cleanup spot throughout the season, including Alex Verdugo, Gleyber Torres, Ben Rice, J.D. Davis and Austin Wells.

Verdugo has seen the bulk of the time in that role since Stanton went down. No one has consistently been able to get the job done. Without Stanton, the Yankees have not been able to find a scary cleanup hitter to slot in behind Judge to make opposing pitchers go after him. Forget scary, they haven’t been able to find a suitable cleanup hitter at all.

Giancarlo Stanton Provides Much-Needed Protection for Aaron Judge

In a 3-2 loss to the Mets on Tuesday night, the Yankees’ need for Stanton in the lineup was on full display. As the cleanup hitter, J.D. Davis went 0-3 with two strikeouts. The Yankees continually take the bat out of Aaron Judge’s hands by providing no protection behind him because they simply don’t have anyone for that role. No one is making opposing pitchers pay for walking Judge.

That’s why the Mets walked Judge four times on Tuesday night. He didn’t see a pitch in the strike zone until the ninth inning, and that was only because the tying run was on base, with Judge representing the winning run at the plate. Judge finally had an opportunity, and he struck out in a big spot. It’s tough to be in the zone to hit after being walked all night long.

The Yankees have struggled all season long in the cleanup spot. Stanton himself has only hit .181 out of the fourth spot in the lineup. He looks much better when batting fifth, hitting .284 from that position in the lineup. However, what Stanton's powerful bat brings to the cleanup spot is fear for the opposing team. He’s scary. His presence, his threat of absolutely clobbering the ball, is what gets pitchers to go after Judge. With a monster on deck, they have to.

It’s well-known that Stanton takes time to heat up when coming off the I.L. Most players do, but Stanton especially. It could take some time before he looks like the Stanton that opposing teams fear. Despite this, the threat he poses is enough to put the bat back in Judge’s hands.

Stanton’s return will not solve all of the Yankees’ problems. It will solve one problem, though, and that is the lack of a threat behind Soto and Judge. Having Stanton back in the lineup will take some pressure off of players like Verdugo and Torres. Even if Aaron Boone chooses to have Stanton bat fifth behind Verdugo while he’s getting going, Stanton’s presence will take pressure off of Verdugo to get the job done.

With Stanton back, if the Yankees can acquire a notable hitter at the deadline, and some other Yankees get going, this lineup would be in much better shape to compete. Until then, no one has to pitch to Aaron Judge.

More New York Yankees news and analysis: