Yankees must bubble wrap Giancarlo Stanton and Gary Sanchez

Hate to be the bearer of bad news for the rest of Major League Baseball, but the New York Yankees are going 162-0 this year, and then I guess we’ll see what happens when they get to the big dance in October.

That is, as long as they can import these versions of Giancarlo Stanton and Gary Sanchez to the regular season and freeze them until they’re needed.

Spring training competition officially jumped the shark about a week ago, as the joys of the crack of the bat returning faded quickly to near-constant anxiety about preserving every Yankee’s health for Opening Day.

Stanton and Sanchez are chief among those who must be kept in 100% mint condition, as both men are striking the baseball very impressively … in the games that count only for bragging rights.

“Best shape of his life” is a cliche for a reason, but Sanchez appears to be in worlds better shape, both mentally and physically, compared to his shortened and nightmarish 2020.

Hot streaks don’t last forever, but ideally he reaches a happy medium in a make-or-break season … and let’s make sure to put that emphasis as far away from “break” as possible.

A few moments after striking yet another line-drive RBI single, Sanchez was hit on the gloved wrist while catching. Though he checked out fine, the moment made us yearn for a time machine to April 1.

https://twitter.com/Yankees/status/1371525531284410372?s=20

Yankees stars Gary Sanchez and Giancarlo Stanton’s spring stats are fire.

Spring stats are meaningless, unless they’re A) really, truly awesome and B) put up by a player who’s entering an inflection point for his career.

Sanchez qualifies on both counts. After Monday’s action, he’s posted a 1.062 OPS, a trio of homers, and has made hard contact in what feels like every plate appearance.

This isn’t a sure-fire harbinger of success, but it sure would be nice to avoid one of the injury-prone catcher’s famous missteps now when he’s so close to entering an all-important opener firing on all cylinders.

As for Stanton? He’s rolled out of bed this spring hitting the same way he did last postseason, and we’re going to join the chorus of preaching caution until the Yankees head north.

We’ve seen enough.

https://twitter.com/Yankees/status/1371542615913590788?s=20

Stanton has produced more high-velocity missiles than any Yankee this spring, rocketing a 120 MPH liner Monday to snag the lead before exiting the game.

If it were possible, we’d be more than happy to see both men take the rest of March off.

So goes the tantalizing spring schedule, right? Theoretically, Stanton and Sanchez need reps to keep up their current pace. But with every at-bat comes another chance at a soft-tissue tweak or an ill-timed sneeze.

If only we could keep these guys fully protected until the opener … because they’re more than ready.

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