Not even Kauffman Stadium can contain Giancarlo Stanton.
The home of the Kansas City Royals is famously one of the biggest playing fields in baseball, making it quite difficult to hit home runs. But on Tuesday and Wednesday, the New York Yankees' slugger made this expansive park look like a little league field with monstrous long balls on each day.
On Tuesday, Stanton strode up to the plate against Royals right-hander Nick Anderson and received a first-pitch fastball down and in. The 34-year-old did what he does best: hit the ball very hard and very far. The prodigious solo homer came off the bat at 111.2 mph and traveled 446 feet, but the projected distance doesn't accurately describe how long the blast was; although the distance to straightaway center field is 410 feet, Stanton's home run cleared all three center field walls and hit off the base of the crown scoreboard.
The next day, Stanton faced southpaw Daniel Lynch IV with Juan Soto on second base, and fell behind in the count 1-2. But the next pitch was a fastball up around the letters, and Stanton once again sent it into orbit; the two-run shot landed just to the left of the fountains, 449 feet away from home plate with a 111.6 mph exit velocity.
Stanton currently has 17 home runs on the season, tying himself with Juan Soto for the second-most on the Yankees and sixth in the majors (Aaron Judge leads both the team and the major leagues with 25 home runs). However, the season has been a great return to form for the 15-year veteran, as he boasts a 122 wRC+ while fortifying the heart of the Bronx Bombers' lineup in either the fifth or cleanup spots. Although he only has a .233 batting average and .288 on-base percentage, he's made up for this by being one of the Yankees' best hitters with runners in scoring position, with a .281/.352/.563 slash line in these scenarios.
Most importantly, Stanton's home runs helped lead the Yankees to a pair of blowout victories over the Royals, as the team has taken the first three games of this four-game series. New York is currently a season-high 28 games over .500, with Stanton serving as a key figure in their success; he will look to continue his bounce-back campaign as the Bronx Bombers go for the sweep on Thursday.
