The New York Yankees still are one week away from Opening Day, but slugger Giancarlo Stanton appears ready for the regular season.
In a spring training game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday at George M. Steinbrenner Field, Stanton smashed three home runs in his first three at bats. That included one homer that sent the ball over the batter’s eye in center field and another that resulted in a grand slam.
However, Stanton’s feat was also a career first. Despite being such a notorious home run hitter, Stanton had never hit three home runs in one game before—not in spring training, not in the regular season, and not in the playoffs.
Stanton. Slam. @Giancarlo818 ???? pic.twitter.com/mLzX4ZPU5G
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) March 20, 2024
After the game, Stanton was asked about the three-homer effort, but the veteran gave a sarcastic answer to doing it in a preseason game.
“It is cool and it will be erased in about a week,” Stanton said, via The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty. “Awesome.”
Stanton enters the 2024 season as MLB’s active leader in home runs with 402, which sits at No. 58 on the all-time list. Therefore, it is a little surprising that such a prolific home run hitter has never had three in one game.
While Aaron Judge and Juan Soto headline the Yankees’ lineup, Stanton reminded everyone of his power during this spring training game.
