BOSTON — The loss of Aaron Judge clearly has impacted the Yankees’ offense, but the reigning AL MVP wasn’t the only slugger on their roster who previously has proven capable of carrying a lineup for lengthy stretches.
Giancarlo Stanton also had been one of those hitters earlier in his career — and when healthy, at times, with the Yankees — but he has been searching to regain any semblance of his timing and power stroke since returning from the injured list on June 2.
Stanton now is batting .119 (5-for-42) with 15 strikeouts over his first 12 games since making it back from a six-week hamstring absence.
Those numbers include seven hitless at-bats with one walk and five Ks as the Yankees were swept — 6-2 and 4-1 — by the Red Sox in Sunday’s day-night doubleheader at Fenway.
“I just need to find my rhythm, pick the ball up a little sooner,” Stanton said between games. “The reps help, but at this time, I don’t have time to just take reps to get them under my belt. I need to [make] an impact when I’m in there, so I just need to figure it out.”
Stanton has not been the only lineup regular slumping since Judge was sidelined with a toe issue two weeks ago; Anthony Rizzo, DJ LeMahieu and Josh Donaldson also have been mired in pronounced skids.
“They’re gonna hit. Big G is gonna hit. They’re gonna get it rolling.,” Aaron Boone said. “We just gotta grind our way through it right now while we’re in a little bit of a struggle.”
The 33-year-old Stanton has spent significant time on the injured list in each of the past five seasons since appearing in 158 games in his first year in pinstripes in 2018 following a trade from the Marlins.
He has appeared in only 315 of the Yanks’ last 618 regular-season games, but Boone called him “such a unique hitter” and “as dangerous as they come” when he finds his rhythm.
Boone also said that he had planned to play Stanton in the outfield on Saturday for the first time since his activation, but with the game rained out, he kept the former NL MVP as the designated hitter for both of Sunday’s games.
Boone indicated it’s likely that the slugger could resume playing the outfield when the Yankees return home to face the Mariners on Tuesday.
Stanton, who has admitted in past seasons that he believes playing in the field helps his offensive productivity, added Sunday that such a move “will help the team be more dynamic, so it’ll be good.”
“I’m doing it now because I think it helps our team, and I like him out there,” Boone said. “I think it does help him. And I think you guys [in the media] think it helps him a ton.
“You guys think he goes to the outfield and starts banging. He’s gonna bang wherever he is, once he gets rolling. But I do think it helps somewhat. I think it’s good for him athletically. I think it’s good for him health-wise, when he’s able to do that. I think it keeps him more finely tuned. And I do think there is a subtle benefit to him being out there performance-wise, too. It’s all predicated on him being ready to do that and being part of the mix.”