We could be looking at one of Giancarlo Stanton's best seasons as a Yankee in 2026

He might not be able to open a bag of chips, but Giancarlo Stanton's elbows haven't seemed to prevent him from hitting rockets and launching dingers. The New York Yankees' designated hitter has looked on the verge of collapse for a while now, but he's always had stretches where he turns back the clock to his pre-pinstripe days.

It's early, but we're starting to see that going on now as Stanton is starting 2026 red hot. Through seven games, he's hitting .393/.431/.571 with a moonshot and six RBI (including the game-winner on Saturday night) on his ledger so far. More importantly, he's been scalding balls.

The 2017 NL MVP has the three hardest-hit balls on the Yankees' opening road trip, and that doesn't even include his March 27 homer against San Francisco that left the bat at 108 miles per hour.

Giancarlo Stanton is poised for his best season with the Yankees, and it has been brewing for some time

Flying a bit under the radar amid Judge's MVP year and Ben Rice's breakout in his absence, Stanton's 2025 campaign was downright stellar. He only played 77 games, but he crushed 24 homers in that abbreviated time and posted a 158 wRC+, which matches the mark he put up in his lone MVP season.

Though he was delayed a bit by the elbows again, he put together a great spring, belting four homers and slugging .714. Spring stats don't mean much, but when they come on the heels of a resurgent season, it's not hard to look at it as a spillover from last year.

Additionally, Stanton seems locked in mentally. The 15-year vet has always been a behind-the-scenes leader. His comments about what it means to be a Yankee at the beginning of spring training show that he's got his eyes on the prize, and he's continued that impactful leadership at the start of the regular season.

“At the end of the day,” Stanton said, “it’s focus with it being everyday: late nights, cross-country, early mornings — whatever you want. Focus is the main thing that sways, with energy, as well. But low energy is low focus. It’s one and the same.”

Stanton has certainly been high energy and, in turn, highly focused, since the season began. The psychological component of his game has never been in question, but he's locked in to an extent that's reminiscent of his ridiculous 2024 postseason run.

In fact, that might have been the actual turning point for him. His regular seasons from 2022-2024 were full of whiffs and only brought forth the occasional homers as a silver lining. But from the 2024 playoffs on, he's looked like the Stanton of old whenever he's been able to take the field. As long as he stays healthy in 2026, we could be looking at his best season in New York yet.