Giancarlo Stanton won the 2024 ALCS MVP award after he helped the Yankees get to their first World Series since 2009.
And who else would it be? Sure, Juan Soto was excellent and his extra-inning shot in Game 5 sealed the Yankees’ series victory but they would not have even had a chance to win if not for Stanton.
“It’s incredible what he’s been doing the whole playoffs,” Soto said after the game. “Without him, we wouldn’t be in that situation [to win Game 5]. Really happy to have him on my side.”
“Anything I could do to help us win,” Stanton said of winning the award. “It took all of us and it’s going to take all of us moving forward. It’s awesome.”
The Yankees slugger has been on fire. He entered Saturday’s game on a two-game home run streak and they came in big moments. In Game 3’s loss, he gave the Yankees the lead in the eighth inning off of Emmanuel Clase and his blast in Game 4 was crucial in the team’s eventual win.
So, what did he do in Game 5? Just hit a game-tying two-run shot off of Guardians starter Tanner Bibee in the sixth. To fully understand the magnitude of the moment, Bibee was dominating the Yankees lineup after getting out of trouble in the first.
At one point, he retired 10 straight Yankees but with two outs and a man on third base it looked as if New York was going to squander another chance to get on the board. But Bibee made a mistake. He hung a 3-2 slider over the plate and Stanton did not miss, crushing it 446 feet.
“Giancarlo, you can’t pure a ball any better than that,” manager Aaron Boone said of the hit.
Saturday was just another example of how locked-in Stanton has been in the postseason. In nine playoff games this year, he’s slashing .294/.385/1.179 with five home runs and 11 RBI.
In the five-game ALCS, Stanton only went 4-for-18 but all four hits were home runs.
“I felt good, I felt good. My prep was right. I had everything dialed in,” Stanton said. “I prep all year, just like I do here. Sometimes you find little things, feel little things that click at the right time.”
Right time indeed for the Yankees who now await the winner of the NLCS between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets. The Yankees will then be in pursuit of their 28th championship when the World Series begins Friday.
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