Yankees: What can we expect from Giancarlo Stanton in 2019?

Giancarlo Stanton had a productive first season with the Yankees, but down the stretch, and in the postseason he really struggled. Most fans would say Stanton failed to live up to expectations in 2018, but he has a chance to flip the script and silence his critics with another MVP caliber season in 2019. Can he do it?

For most players, a season where they hit .266 with 38 HR and 100 RBI would be considered a great one. However, when you also strike out 211 times and post those numbers in your first season with the New York Yankees just a year after you won the NL MVP a lot more is expected of you.

Whether it’s fair or not Stanton is expected to be much better moving forward mostly because’s he’s the highest paid player on the team. When the Yankees acquired him they inherited the remaining $250 million still owed to him over the next 10 years. That’s not terrible compared to the contracts Manny Machado and Bryce Harper will garner some time soon, but for $25 million a season he needs to do more.

Stanton knows that and I expect him to bounce back with a monster season for multiple reasons. The first is that he’ll be much more comfortable in season two with the Yanks know that’s he’s gotten himself acclimated to living in the big city and playing in such a pressure-packed environment. He’ll also have a better idea of how he’s being attacked by opposing pitchers now that he’s had a full season playing in the American League under his belt.

As we’ve seen over the years superstar players don’t always live up to expectations in year one with New York and then go on to have big seasons in year two. Take Alex Rodriguez for example. A-Rod was the best player in the game when he joined the Yankees in 2004 and like Stanton, he was coming off an MVP season with the Rangers in 2003.

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He had a very solid first season in New York hitting .286 with 36 HR with 106 RBI in 155 games but didn’t come close to posting the numbers he did in 2003. He also played a role in the Yankees memorable collapse during that season’s ALCS against the rival Red Sox. However, in 2005 A-Rod bounced back in a big way en route to his second MVP. He hit .321 with 48 HR and 130 RBI and played all 162 games.

Unfortunately, his postseason struggles would continue until he led the Yankees to a championship in 2009. Although after that first season he was clearly much more comfortable playing in New York and produced at an MVP level the following five seasons.

Outside of the playoff struggles the Yankees hope Stanton can bounce back in a similar manner as A-Rod once did. Sure there are some holes to his game offensively but Stanton is too good of a player to be striking out over 200 times a season and he has too much power to be hitting less than 40 home runs when he plays half his games at Yankee Stadium.

It’s tough to say how Stanton will fair in the playoffs next October, but I do know that as long as he can stay healthy he’s primed for a huge bounce-back regular season. In 2019 he’ll hear much more cheers than boos from the Yankee faithful. I predict at least 45 home runs and 110 RBI and Stanton leading the Yankees to their first division title since 2012.