Yankees fans, cut Giancarlo Stanton some slack

Yes, I am sure you Yankees fans have heard Giancarlo Stanton has gotten off to a slow start.

There’s undoubtedly a number of reasons behind his struggles, but one of the main reasons could be us fans. Yankees fans are the best fans in the world and they make it so special to play in the pinstripes, but they can also make a player’s time in New York very stressful.

If you’re a beloved Yankee, there’s no better place to play baseball. Like Derek Jeter and his replacement, Didi Gregorius, if you show a knack for clutch-moments, you can be likened to a cult hero with all the fame and luxury bestowed upon you.

However, if you’re a big-ticket addition who struggles initially, hopefully, you have the mental fortitude to survive or else you might as well be the stereotypical kid in class forced to wear the “Dunce” hat. Us fans won’t lay off you until you prove us wrong. Although I love the Yankees and our entire fanbase, who enjoys gritty, clutch ball players willing to put their bodies on the line, we need to give Stanton a break.

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Consider this, Stanton is hitting .323/.677/.417 with nine strikeouts on the road while sporting a putrid .086/.171/.179 with 20 strikeouts in Yankee Stadium. What’s shocking is coming into the season it seemed like Stanton’s dream of a home ballpark after toiling away in the large dimensions of Marlins Park. What could be a reason for Stanton’s struggles at Yankee stadium? We may have to look inward for some answers.

The fans booing certainly isn’t the only reason, and likely not even the main reason why Stanton hasn’t replicated his Opening Day success. Stanton is a notoriously slow starter, with both March and April being the worst statistical months of his career.

In addition, after playing in the NL for his entire Marlins career, he now has to adjust to facing pitchers he’s either never seen before or seen very little, which can be very difficult.

Hitters tend to keep a mental notebook on how certain pitchers attacked them in the past, and this is especially true for veteran hitters, who tend to rely more on outsmarting pitchers and sitting on pitches they expect to be coming in order to do damage.

Stanton has been described as a film junkie, and I bet not knowing how pitchers are going to pitch to him has definitely thrown him out of whack, which has been evident in some of his at-bats when he’s swung at bad pitches to hit but taken the good ones. Younger hitters tend to just see the ball and hit it early in their careers, without thinking too much about the mental chess match against pitchers. Stanton seems to be doing a lot of thinking at the plate.

This gets back to my main point: why do you think Stanton is thinking too much? Does it have to do with the serenading of boos he hears every time he doesn’t do something good? Look, Stanton seems built for NY: he enjoys the spotlight, he hangs out with celebrities, and he has the largest contract in the MLB. Let’s also not forget that he chose to be a Yankee, rejecting deals to either the Giants or the Cardinals in search for a contending team in a larger market.

As Yankee fans, we should embrace that! This guy truly wants to be here, and he truly wants to succeed. It’s not like he isn’t working hard to turn it around, it’s actually quite the opposite. As Brian Cashman explained:

"“I don’t want to call him an over-worker, but I guess I would call him that. He’s someone that, he just works his tail off. He’s constantly down in the cage, constantly getting extra swings. It’s something that, if anybody is looking for something to say to him it’s, ‘Hey, kind of back off.’ But it sounds like ‘back off’ is not in his personality.”"

Does that not sound like a ballplayer we should embrace? We must not forget that baseball is a game of failure, and also can be a mental game as much as a physical one. Players will go on hot streaks, and they will also go on maddening cold streaks like the one Stanton is on now. As fans, we need to embrace our players no matter how they may be doing, or at least not boo them and make it worse.

Next: Should the Yankees drop Stanton down in the order?

Stanton has already overcome a number of obstacles to become the player the Yankees acquired. So let’s stop this nonsensical fandom and start to show him the side of New York he chose to come here for. The undying support, the electric atmosphere of Yankee Stadium, and fans who idolize their players like no other fanbase. Heck, it can only help us.