The New York Yankees embarked on one of its most crucial stretches of the season last week. They faced the Washington Nationals and Tampa Bay Rays in back-to-back away series. Trumping both the matchups would have set the tone for the Bomber’s late playoff push. However, to the fan’s disappointment, the reality turned out to be disastrous.
The New York Yankees ended up losing both the series and plunged further down into the East division. They still remain below .500 with a 62-68 record. Amid this, an underperforming star hitter, who badly failed in this six-game stretch, has been attacked by the agitated fans. He addressed the outrage and shared his perspective on the same.
Giancarlo Stanton Feels He Is Letting The Yankees Down During Crucial Games
Giancarlo Stanton is one of the most strong and powerful hitters in the New York Yankees lineup. His ability to hit the ball hard made him a standout player all these years. However, this year, he has been unable to convert those hard hits into something fruitful, as his offensive production has been the worst in recent history. So far, Stanton has hit .202 with 19 homers, 49 RBIs and .723 OPS. Meanwhile, during last week’s crucial stretch, the 33-year-old went through 1-for-22 with 10 strikeouts. A dejected Stanton addressed his concerns during the game and said that the importance of metrics has ceased to exist this season for him. He is at a point where everything he does should contribute to the team’s win.
Further, Giancarlo Stanton added that he hasn’t done his part of the job during important moments in the season. There is no coming back from here. Speaking on changes he is looking to introduce next year, Stanton said he would take out the positives and throw away the negatives deep into the ocean. Having said that, the fans also haven’t been that kind to the hitter. They have booed him relentlessly throughout the season. However, it does not affect Stanton, as he is already extremely livid with himself. The damage he is doing to himself is much worse than the public outrage. Regardless, Giancarlo Stanton has 35-odd games left on the deck to make a difference.
Anthony Volpe’s Ironman Streak Comes To An End
Meanwhile, rookie Anthony Volpe, who was on a course of featuring in all 162 games this season, saw his everyday playing streak come to an end on Saturday. Volpe was rested for the whole game against the Rays. While the Yankees manager Aaron Boone is grateful for the shortstop’s contributions to date, he would not let the rookie burn out. Boone wants to stay mindful of Volpe’s workload as this is his first full-fledged major league season.
“I think he’s (Anthony Volpe) stayed physically sound, which has been encouraging going through the grind of your first season at this level as the Yankees’ shortstop,” Aaron Boone added. Having said that, the shortstop returned to the series finale on Sunday and scored a home run while driving two RBIs in three at-bats. However, his efforts were wasted as the Yankees ended up losing by 7-4.
