Giancarlo Stanton enjoyed a three-home run night earlier this week, with all three bombs coming against left-handed pitching.
For Evan, it was further evidence that the Yankees need to make Stanton the highest-paid platoon player in baseball.
“Giancarlo Stanton mashed a left-handed pitcher. Duh,” Evan said. “Giancarlo Stanton needs to be a platoon player.
“Forget how much money he’s made, forget the MVP, forget the career stats. You have to look at, right now, what is he? He is a damn good masher of left-handed pitching.”
Stanton’s OPS against lefties in his career is nearly 150 points higher than against righties, a trend that continued last season. Despite abysmal numbers overall, Stanton posted a robust .942 OPS against lefties in 2023, 300 points higher than his mark against righties. With that in mind, Evan says the Yanks should keep Stanton on the bench against righties, and send him up to “mash” against southpaws.
“That’s what he does. That’s who he is,” Evan said. “And if the Yankees have the guts…they will treat Giancarlo Stanton the way he should be treated, which is as a platoon player. There’s nothing wrong with that.
“Alex Verdugo mashes righties, doesn’t hit lefties. Stanton mashes lefties, doesn’t hit righties. What you have, ladies and gentlemen, is a platoon.”
