SU has been monitoring the number of days off that Giancarlo Stanton has been given in 2021. He is a full-time DH – they never roll him out to play left field. Keep in mind that in all of his years in the National League with the Marlins, the Generational One played right field on a regular basis. Somehow, he has become a bit brittle in the American League.
SU has been running the numbers through its sophisticated models over and over again. Based on our in-depth calculations, it appears that a DH comes to bat either 4 or 5 times a game. Now, the walk from the dugout to home plate varies by stadium. Oakland, for example, has an especially long walk to the plate. However, in baseball there is no clock so you can do that more slowly. We have also factored in the occasions when you might break a bat or need more pine tar which involves walking a few steps back to the dugout. We do not factor in home and away games as those even out over the course of the year. For Stanton, as a right-handed hitter, it’s a longer walk from the first-base dugout vs. the third-base dugout.
Now, when you hit a home run, you jog around the bases. Not too strenuous although the first few steps out of the box may involve a slightly faster pace although the Yankees certainly discourage that for Gary Sanchez. Strike outs involve no running. Walks involve walking.
Bottom line: SU says he needs to play every day. Every day. He is the Yankees’ hottest hitter now and this is not a roster with many of those guys. Most are comfortably below .200 and show no signs of movement up (nor do they worry about being benched as they are right-handed hitters and they know only right-handed hitters are allowed to play). And, when Luke Voit returns, he may need some days as DH with a recuperating knee. Put Stanton in the outfield. SU says this is not like the NBA where you are sprinting up and down the court. Just stand out in left field for minutes on end and then jog after the occasional fly ball. Do not go any further than the warning track – no walls please. And I don’t care if you catch the ball. I mean they roll Clint Frazier out there most games and he is an adventure on his best days. Stanton only has to jog – all the time.
I know you are wondering how Mike Tauchman is doing with the SF Giants since he was traded last week. SU has been monitoring: he has started all 4 games (what? no day off?) and is 5 for 16 with 1 home run and 5 rbis. That is .313 for those scoring at home. Now consider: in 4 games, he has more rbis than Clint Frazier (3) and Gary Sanchez (4) for the entire season. Ahem.
Sports Update Intergalactic 
Agreed totally on the Stanton topic. The goal is to keep momentum and timing and have them see different pitchers/arm angles/pace. Definitely a miss on Boone yesterday.
I do disagree, however, that Clint is a liability in the outfield. It is clear that he has worked on it and is striving to improve. Given his on and off playing time the first 10 games of the season we should give him the same treatment as Stanton to get him in- in this case- a defensive rhythm.
It’s important to highlight how good the staff has been. Kluber in back to back starts, Taillon on Saturday, Cole the whole way through, and the bullpen (especially Chapman). The first two- Kluber and Taillon- have not had any rhythm the past few years and it’s a very positive sign that now 3-4 starts in they are starting to get a feel for their grips and arm angles. They both threw magnificently this weekend. Chapman isn’t going to be a 105 mph flamethrower forever. I wonder how Matt Blake has worked with him to further his splitter and other secondary pitches.
Detroit, in most recent memory, has been a team the Yankees should always beat but nonetheless given the early season struggles it was a great weekend.
Houston comes to town this week- let’s get the trash cans out.
Great points on the starting pitchers, Mark. I agree that starting pitching is now a strength for the Yankees. I am fine being patient with Kluber, Taillon and even German. Now, the competition has not been great but neither are the Yankees. They can roll out 5 legit starters and have some depth with Garcia and the other youngsters as needed. The records in the AL are mostly hovering around .500 so they are right in the mix. Frazier has improved defensively – he was even a finalist for the Gold Glove last year – but he is still an adventure out there to me. But his attitude is much improved. Let’s see how they do with better competition coming up on the schedule now vs. the Baltimores and Detroits.
I just think we all need to read this again: “in 4 games, [Tauchman] has more rbis than Clint Frazier (3) and Gary Sanchez (4) for the entire season.”
Depending on what our Minor League teams have in the way of catchers trade Gary Sanchez while he is healthy. He has had more than enough time to prove he is worth keeping. If he was stellar defensive catcher maybe I’d give him some more time. He is not and clearly an all or nothing hitter. I’d give Frazier and hicks more latitude. They both seem to be coming around. The only thing that Sanchez is coming around in is his swing missing the ball so, so many times. Probably just like Tauchman he will find his swing. What will that tell you about many a player coming to the high profile of New York. They boo Stanton but not Sanchez. That’s not right. However, if Sanchez was ever booed he’d be batting a crisp 0.50. Stanton’s hide is tougher and at least has proven that he can put up sone decent numbers.