Giancarlo Stanton waited a long time to experience Wednesday night’s American League Wild Card game against the Oakland Athletics. After all, it was likely a big reason why the New York Yankees were a top trade destination for him last winter.
Batting fourth and occupying the designated hitter spot in manager Aaron Boone‘s lineup, merely appearing in this game was significant.
.@Giancarlo818 has played 1,144 regular season games without a #postseason appearance.
That streak ends tonight. pic.twitter.com/PmXqAFMptW
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) October 3, 2018
Stanton’s first taste of playoff baseball was a positive one, too — he went 1-for-3 with a two runs scored, one RBI, a walk, and a dinger.
This is now the second consecutive season in which a Yankees player hit a homer in his first postseason game with the organization, but it’s only happened nine total times in franchise history.
Played first career postseason game in a Yankees uniform and homered in it:
Giancarlo Stanton 2018
Aaron Judge 2017
Rondell White 2002
Shane Spencer 1998
Jim Leyritz 1995
Rick Cerone 1980
Roger Maris 1960
Elston Howard 1955
George Selkirk 1936— Doug Kern (@dakern74) October 4, 2018
That wasn’t all Stanton did, though — he also stole a base. Since he only swiped five bags this year and has registered double-digit steals just once in his nine-year MLB career, not many would expect him to pop up on the below list.
Homered and stole a base in first career postseason game:
NYY Giancarlo Stanton 2018
TB Evan Longoria 2008
CHW Scott Podsednik 2005
HOU Carlos Beltran 2004
STL Jim Edmonds 2000
BOS Luis Alicea 1995
CHC Mark Grace 1989
MIN Zoilo Versalles 1965— Doug Kern (@dakern74) October 4, 2018
That’s baseball for you.
However, many people do expect Stanton to hit baseballs hard, which is exactly what he did on Wednesday. Aaron Judge had set a postseason record in the first inning with a 116.1 mph exit velocity on his own dinger, but it didn’t stand for very long.
.@Giancarlo818 had an exit velocity of 117.4 mph on his 8th-inning HR.
It breaks @TheJudge44’s record for the hardest-hit #postseason HR in the @Statcast era … from earlier in the game! pic.twitter.com/pnK8DmJ9z8
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) October 4, 2018
The Yankees were supposed to be the kings of exit velocity with studs like Stanton and Judge occupying the same lineup. They’ve understandably blown everyone else in the league away this year.
Including the postseason, the Yankees now have 34 batted balls of 116 or more MPH this season, matching the rest of MLB combined. pic.twitter.com/qgLeMChKIM
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 4, 2018
And don’t forget, they’ve accomplished this despite Judge appearing in just 112 games due to injury.
The 2018 regular season was certainly a step back for Stanton based off his MVP-winning campaign from last year, but it was still a solid debut performance in pinstripes. This was the second consecutive season he recorded at least 35 homers, 100 runs scored, and 100 RBI, as well as appearing in no fewer than 158 games.
Now that Stanton has finally gotten his first taste of what October baseball is like, it’ll surely reach another level Friday, when New York plays the Boston Red Sox in the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
About Matt Musico
Matt currently manages Chin Music Baseball and contributes to The Sports Daily. His past work has been featured at numberFire, Yahoo! Sports and Bleacher Report. He’s also written a book about how to become a sports blogger. You can sign up for his email newsletter here.
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