Aaron Judge may be the frontrunner for AL MVP, but the New York Yankees would be in dire straits without Giancarlo Stanton’s impressive season.
So when asked about Stanton’s continued dominance, after he drove in all five runs in New York’s 5-1 win over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday, teammate Cody Bellinger could only stand in awe.
Stanton is second on the Yankees in OPS (1.051) behind only Judge (1.110) — though Stanton does not qualify since he only has 183 plate appearances. The right fielder/DH has been on a tear since the All-Star break, slashing .362/.429/.819 in 30 games.
The Yankees (72-60) sit just 4.5 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays for the AL East lead but are squarely in the second American League wild-card spot, a half-game behind the Boston Red Sox.
What Did Cody Bellinger Say About Giancarlo Stanton?
Bellinger, who also is one of the Yankees‘ best hitters with an .820 OPS, could only offer two words when asked about Stanton.
“Locked in,” Bellinger said. “Seems like every at-bat is a quality at-bat, and he hits the ball harder than anyone I’ve ever seen, so it’s really fun to watch and it’s really impressive.”
To Bellinger’s point, Stanton has the second-best exit-velocity average (95.4mph) behind only Oneil Cruz of the Pittsburgh Pirates this season — ahead of Judge, who ranks third (95.1). Stanton also had one of the hardest-hit balls of the season Sunday, when he rocketed a 117.8mph double off Dustin May of the Red Sox — even though it wasn’t his max exit velocity of 2025.
Stanton improved that average against the Nationals on Tuesday night, when he gave the Yankees the lead with a two-out, bases-clearing, three-run double of the left-center field wall in the bottom of the third of MacKenzie Gore.
It had an exit velocity of 101.6 and traveled 389 feet according to Statcast — it would have been a home run at 20 major-league parks — and put New York on top 3-1.
“Not strong enough to get it out [of the park],” Stanton jokingly told Meredith Marakovits of YES Network after the game.
He followed that with, what former Yankees radio broadcaster John Sterling would call a Stantonian blast, when he smoked a 451-foot blast into the left-field bleachers off Washington reliever Orlando Ribalta in the sixth inning.
“Just try to get the barrel out and do something good,” Stanton said on his approach against Ribalta.
Is This The Best Giancarlo Stanton Has Played?
It’s hard to compare this Stanton to the one who hit 59 home runs and won the National League MVP in 2017. It’s also hard to say this is the best Stanton has played in a Yankees uniform, since he won the ALCS MVP in 2024 and has an OPS of .994 for the Yankees in the postseason.
But Yankees manager Aaron Boone said it is the best he’s seen Stanton play in his seven years leading the team. So after missing two-plus months with elbow tendinitis in both arms, Stanton has looked rejuvenated, even if he is staying modest.
“Just glad I can contribute,” Stanton said. “I didn’t like being out for so long, so whatever I can do [I’ll] streamline [results] while I’m here.
“I’m ready to go. Just keep it rolling.”
Yankees Star Cody Bellinger Gives 2-Word Take on Giancarlo Stanton