Given the way his 2017 season played out – home run king, Silver Slugger, NL All-Star, NL MVP – and the fact that he’s since been traded to the biggest market in baseball, I was worried that he might get off to a slow start and take some heat for it.
I was very, very wrong.
In his first at-bat of the season, Stanton took J.A. Happ DEEP to right-center field, scoring Brett Gardner in the process:
“Stanton will be a bust this season, just watch”
-Boston fans
*Stanton first AB* pic.twitter.com/xKT5JenpGu
— WTP Sports (@WTPsports) March 30, 2018
And here’s the craziest part, according to Statcast, that ball traveled only 426 feet, but left the bat at a ridiculous 117 MPH. That is just INSANE and could seriously last as the hardest struck homer of the year. That’s how amazing it is.
Of course, Stanton wasn’t done yet.
In the top of the ninth inning, Stanton sent another ball out of the ball park, this time to straight away center:
Stanton TO THE MOON for his second of the day pic.twitter.com/UTtXiCGhPD
— Starting 9 (@Starting9) March 29, 2018
That one traveled even further than the first (434 feet), but was weakly hit at just a tiny, minuscule 109 MPH.Â
And, of course, if that wasn’t enough, Stanton also added an RBI double in the fifth, this one, too, a absolute rocket at 103 MPH:
Giancarlo Stanton keeps RAKING … RBI double puts the Yankees ahead 3-0. #YANKSonYES pic.twitter.com/aRFzSY1A6j
— YES Network (@YESNetwork) March 29, 2018
It’s hard to project Stanton topping his impressive 2017 campaign, but if he’s gonna try, he’s gotten off to the right start.