Yankees: 3 Giancarlo Stanton playoff redemption moments we’ve already seen in 2020

Yankees star Giancarlo Stanton is living up to his billing in the 2020 MLB Playoffs.

Before the 2020 Playoffs started, the kindest among us were fairly invested in getting Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton the first pieces, at least, to his redemption story.

Has Stanton earned all the scorn he faces from the fanbase? Of course not; his 2018 season was legitimately All-Star level, and his very first postseason, against the juggernaut Red Sox, did not go well for anyone on the roster.

Of course, the indelible images left over from ’18 were, fair or not, of a bat-only player on a bloated contract putting up little resistance against the slider low and away. And then the injuries really began, taking a full season away from the large-frame Californian. Frustrating, without a doubt. Career-defining…well, we hoped not.

Luckily, Stanton has spent the first few playoff games hard at work to dispel the narratives that have dogged him, fairly or not, since he first slipped on the pinstripes. In just a few short days, the man has already racked up a number of moments that the doubters would’ve had you believe would never come.

3. Stanton Homer Begins Comeback in Cleveland

With the Yankees down 4-0 to the Indians, Giancarlo Stanton did not surrender an AB.

In the second inning of Game 2 of the Wild Card Series at Progressive Field, we would’ve forgiven you if your spirits had been depleted a little bit.

After all, not only had Playoff Tanaka been whacked around with two outs by the Tribe in the first, but the umpires had taken it upon themselves to force a Game 3, popping a rain delay right in the middle of Tanaka’s inning without any regard for when the onrushing storm may or may not cease.

So there Stanton was, batting against Carlos Carrasco, nursing a huge lead and free of weather interruptions. It was fair to feel downtrodden about the prospect of a comeback.

No problem. Stanton stayed calm and composed and steadfastly walloped a home run laser into deep right field, immediately reversing the momentum that so many, on and off the field, had worked so hard to prevent.

Without Stanton’s initial blast, the snowball that became the Gio Urshela grand slam may never have rolled down the mountain. He took initiative by drawing first blood. That’s how you start a playoff rally.

1. Stanton Slams the Stable, Game 1 ALDS

Giancarlo Stanton put Game 1 out of reach for the Rays, as the Yankees exhaled.

Be honest: Even after what a healthy Giancarlo Stanton has shown us over the past several years, did you think he was ready to contribute a big hit with the bases loaded in a 5-3 game on Monday night?

You were mentally calculating Aroldis Chapman’s chances with a two-run lead, weren’t you?

But when Stanton lifted a “sacrifice fly” to dead center, most of us were plenty satisfied with his ability to sit on a slider and lift it for the insurance — until, of course, the ball cut through the marine layer and landed well beyond Kevin Kiermaier’s outstretched glove for the granny.

Turns out those Stanton splits at Petco Park might’ve meant something, huh?

No, Stanton didn’t “earn his pinstripes” Monday night, because that is not a real thing. Even those who believe in the mythology won’t imbue it upon him until he’s got a thick ring on his finger, sticky from a law-breaking dose of champagne.

Until that home run, though, Stanton’s postseason pivot points consisted of increased patience and a few examples of him taking the first step, setting his teammates up for the ultimate glory. Remember him bat-flipping a walk against the Twins last year, or icing a Wild Card victory against the A’s, but only with a thick lead? Hopefully, those previous justifications for the “clutch-ness” we hoped were hiding somewhere can now take a backseat.

We’ve been waiting for 2009 A-Rod to emerge, especially after the man himself took a shot at Stanton as an “easy out” in the Wild Card round. Hopefully, Monday presented the first inarguable data point in that chase.

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