As a participant’s physique modifications over time, the identical actions he used to make could not work nicely for him anymore. Adjusting to those modifications (or not) will make or break his profession. These modifications have been particularly stark for Giancarlo Stanton. The 35-year-old slugger serves as an attention-grabbing case for observing how nice hitters can alter their swings over time to regulate to their altering bodily attributes.
Stanton had a 116 wRC+ in 459 plate appearances in 2024 – the fifteenth season of his profession. That’s almost equivalent to the 118 mark he set throughout 396 plate appearances as a rookie in 2010. The distinction between Stanton then and now, although, is evening and day. Let’s check out Stanton at age 20 to get an thought of what his swing was like throughout his first main league season:
Open stance, non-neutral shin angle, slight hand row. None of these items are presently current in Stanton’s swing. None. When he got here up, he regarded like an uber-athletic NFL tight finish. He might run nicely, transfer fluidly, and was twitchy sufficient to have a bit of additional motion in his swing (in comparison with latest years) and nonetheless have success. Yeah, he struck out over 30% of the time in his rookie marketing campaign, however he was nonetheless studying massive league pitching. He boasted a 141 wRC+ the next season with a really comparable swing. It wasn’t till his third season the place there was an apparent change. This was when Stanton confirmed what he was actually able to on the plate (and when he began going by Giancarlo):
Now that’s what I’m speaking about. These are really Stantonian homers right here. In 2012, Stanton raised his wRC+ to 158, delivering 5.1 WAR in simply 123 video games. He cemented himself as one of many scariest sluggers within the sport, and far of that ought to be attributed to his mechanical changes. He modified his stance to a impartial place and raised his arms up a substantial quantity. From this level on, his arms would keep in the next slot. His hand row from the earlier two seasons all the time introduced him to the next level than the place he began in his setup. As a participant with 80-grade energy, he didn’t really want that further motion to create power. Relying in your physique kind (arm size, higher physique flexibility, and so on.), swinging a flat bat from a excessive slot makes it simpler to get your bat on airplane. Since he wasn’t the kind of hitter who varies his shoulder airplane all that a lot, it was a logical change to simplify his method.
Even with these modifications, we’re nonetheless fairly far off from the place Stanton has been over the previous few seasons. He maintained these mechanics all through 2012 and 2013. Nonetheless, throughout this time, well being grew to become a problem. He missed time in each of those seasons for knee, belly , ankle, thigh and shoulder accidents. With out biomechanical knowledge, we are able to’t definitively say these accidents pressured his physique to alter and/or he needed to alter his swing to compensate for his compromised well being, however my goodness, these are accidents nearly from head to toe! It wasn’t till the 2014 season that Stanton performed over 140 video games in a single season. And unsurprisingly, he got here into that 12 months with one other modified setup:
That is the primary time in his profession the place we noticed Stanton slender his stance. I’m theorizing right here, however taking away motion might have had two advantages for him: Much like my level earlier than, he’s so robust that he by no means actually wanted to maneuver all that a lot to create energy, and fewer motion would give him a greater shot at making contact. Second, by narrowing his stance and never crouching as a lot, he would put much less stress on his physique. He ended this season with a 161 wRC+, the best mark of his profession. He additionally remained wholesome till the center of September, when he was hit within the face by a pitch that prematurely ended his season.
The narrowed stance saved working for him in 2015. Throughout his 74 video games to begin the 12 months, he scorched 27 residence runs — a full-season tempo of 58. However on June 26 — his 74th sport — he broke his hamate bone swinging in some unspecified time in the future throughout his remaining two at-bats, each strikeouts, and missed the remainder of the season.
The one factor about Stanton’s swing that he has by no means actually reconciled is that he doesn’t decelerate a lot. I feel it is a massive cause why we see such egregious whiffs from him. As soon as he will get began, there isn’t a slowing down. It additionally comes with some added threat of harm. That is such a violent swing, and his physique bears the brunt of that power as a result of he doesn’t have the brakes in place to return to a managed cease.
Though he was wholesome to begin the season in 2016, it was clear the harm had compromised him. By the tip of the 12 months, he’d utterly gotten away from the setup that he’d had a lot success with earlier than the hamate harm. The truth is, he returned to an identical stance that we noticed from him early on in his profession:
Ahead lean, barely open hips, and extra knee bend. Sound acquainted? That’s as a result of that is basically rookie 12 months Stanton, not the nice hitter he was in 2014-2015. His efficiency additionally reverted again to the place it was in 2010; his 118 wRC+ in 2016 was equivalent to his mark as a rookie. It is smart, then, that he ditched this setup in 2017. Closed stance Stanton has entered the chat:
Stanton didn’t shut his stance off till about June, however he didn’t run it again the primary few months with the stance he used throughout his down 2016 season. He got here into 2017 with the identical stance he had in 2014-2015, when he was raking. However from the summer time on, he closed issues up, ending the season with 59 residence runs and successful NL MVP. It was a particular run that utterly took off because of one other mechanical change – most likely crucial of his profession.
Stanton was traded to the Yankees following the 2017 season and confirmed up with the identical actual setup, and for good cause. After struggling massive trip of the gate, he ended up with a 128 wRC+. Not nice however nonetheless superb. He was wholesome for just about your entire season too, enjoying in 158 video games. Then in 2019, the accidents piled up. After a knee harm that saved him out for nearly your entire 12 months, he returned within the playoffs and sustained a quad harm. Then it was hamstring harm that restricted him to 23 video games throughout the shortened 2020 season. Over the 2 years, he performed in a complete of 61 common season video games.
In contrast to different instances in his profession, Stanton’s accidents in these seasons didn’t result in a mechanical overhaul. At this level in his profession, he knew what one of the best model of himself regarded like. If he might get his physique again to feeling wholesome, it made sense to not undergo any massive modifications. And in 2021, that labored out nicely. He swatted 35 homers in 139 video games and completed with a 138 wRC+. He suffered a minor quad pressure early within the season, however apart from that, he was wholesome all 12 months.
Although he missed 10 days with a minor calf pressure in late Might/early June, Stanton was additionally principally wholesome for the primary half of 2022, and he hit nicely sufficient to make the All-Star group (133 wRC+ throughout the first half). However then the decrease physique accidents returned, and this time they had been even decrease than earlier than. He made it three days into the second half earlier than touchdown on the IL with Achilles tendonitis. He missed simply over a month, and when he got here again in late August, it took him about two weeks to get going. He additionally had a minor harm scare when he fouled a ball off his foot on September 5; he wasn’t within the lineup for the Yankees’ subsequent 4 video games, although he did pinch hit in two of them. He caught hearth upon returning to the lineup on September 10, posting a 133 wRC+ with seven residence runs over his remaining 79 plate appearances of the common season.
Nonetheless, these specific accidents represented a brand new problem for Stanton. As a closed-stance hitter, he’s way more reliant on his connection to the bottom, making these repeated accidents from the ankle downward particularly regarding. Not solely does he should regain his energy, however he additionally has to determine how you can transfer in house and work together with the bottom. This will get harder for gamers as they age and the accidents compound. The factor about Stanton, although, is he has all the time been prepared to tweak his mechanics. Nonetheless, he wanted to hit all-time low earlier than deciding to go away from the setup that he’d had a lot success with for therefore lengthy.
Well being was an issue for Stanton once more in 2023. He strained his hamstring in April and missed nearly two months. Upon his return, he was far off from his diminished 2022 type, when he completed the 12 months with 113 wRC+, which to that time was the worst mark of his profession. His 86 wRC+ to finish the 12 months was bleak. He stayed wholesome after his return, however the terrible efficiency introduced up the query: Was this simply an excessive amount of for him to beat? For Stanton, the reply was to do what he had completed so nicely for his complete profession. He made some extra modifications, this time to his mechanics and his physique.
There was plenty of dialogue round Stanton’s changes at first of 2024, together with this complete look from Jay Jaffe. In brief, the primary level was that he slimmed down (quite a bit!) and shifted nearer to the impartial setup he had from 2014 and 2015 moderately than the intense closed stance he had employed starting in June of 2017.
This goes again to the speak about matching your swing to your bodily attributes. Stanton has handled so many decrease physique points during the last 5 years, they usually have impacted what he can do bodily. He couldn’t maintain the identical motion sample within the closed stance along with his present physique, so he went to an identical model of the swing that his physique might deal with. His common season nonetheless wasn’t nice, nevertheless it was a significant step up from the 12 months earlier than. And when you think about the present he placed on in October, it’s secure to say his modifications labored fairly nicely general. For a final look, let’s see the place he stands as of October, from a mechanical perspective:
No matter your opinion is of Stanton’s profession, how he tasks for the remainder of it, or something associated to that, there isn’t a denying that what he has completed all through the final 15 years has been exceptional. There aren’t many hitters who can change as a lot as he has and nonetheless have success. A giant a part of being a fantastic baseball participant is making changes. Stanton has completed that extremely nicely for a protracted, very long time.
