Coming off a career-worst season, New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton knew he needed to make a big change this offseason heading into 2024.
That change was on full display as he reported to Yankees’ spring training in Tampa Bay, as Stanton looked very slim compared to his usual, muscular stature.
That’s not saying Stanton, who has crushed 402 homers in his 14-year MLB career, still isn’t going to be sending baseball over the fence this season. But his appearance was a calculated change this offseason, as he wanted a “more movement-based” build, per The New York Post.
“Be a baseball player again,” Stanton said when asked why he made this physical change. “I just needed to be more mobile. A lot of setbacks [last season] kept me not moving the way I’d like to be.”
Now, Stanton wouldn’t reveal his weight, but it’s surely down from the 245 pounds he was at 6-foot-6 last season. He said he was running more this offseason, but his physical abilities go beyond just looking slimmer.
Stanton noted that he’ll also be making “some changes” to his swing from the right side of the plate, per The Post. The 2017 NL MVPhit a career-low .191 with a .275 on-base percentage in 101 games last season – production which he said himself was not good enough for a Yankees team that underachieved.
Now 34, Stanton knows he needs to produce on a team that is gunning for a World Series, something they haven’t appeared in since 2009 when they won it all.
“If you don’t produce, there’s going to be adjustments and ways, in any aspects, to make the lineup as optimal as possible,” Stanton explained. “So, it’s my job to do that.”
