The Yankees and Aaron Boone were willing to take Giancarlo Stanton’s lack of speed to limit his injury risk and get him through the regular season.
The same is true in the playoffs.
The oft-injured Stanton, who has dealt with calf, hamstring and quad issues over the past five seasons, may have cost the Yankees a pair of runs in Sunday’s win over Kansas City, when he was unable to score from first on Oswaldo Cabrera’s double to right-center or beat out a chopper to third with Juan Soto on third to end the sixth.
“It is something we’ve kind of got to live with,’’ Boone said Sunday on a Zoom call from Yankee Stadium. “Whether you’ve seen it over the years with a particular player that is incredibly slow that’s an impactful player, it’s something we’ve got to live with.”
Boone and Stanton don’t want to put the 34-year-old in more jeopardy of missing time, even in October, when every out is more valuable.
In 2019, Stanton suffered a quad injury that cost him three straight games in the ALCS against the Astros, and he was hobbled when he returned for Game 5 and had to sit again in the decisive Game 6.
“He’s got to do what he’s got to do,’’ Boone said. “He’s trying to get to what is his top speed in a fluid way, as best he can.”
Stanton has long had among the slowest sprint speeds in the league, according to Statcast, and that continued this season.
His 5.07 seconds to first base during the regular season was the slowest of his career and the third-slowest in the majors, trailing only catchers Ali Sanchez and Yasmani Grandal.
But his overall sprint speed of 24.5 feet per second was just the 19th-worst in MLB, with plenty of fellow slow-footed catchers, first basemen and DHs ahead of Stanton.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the Yankees in the postseason:
- Sherman: Yankees biggest stars have maligned teammates to thank for this victory
- Gerrit Cole didn’t have his best stuff in rocky Game 1 start
- Bobby Witt, Aaron Boone enraged during contentious ninth-inning at-bat
- Sherman: Luke Weaver’s upside finally realized with Yankees after many saw potential
“It’s a controlled gait he knows he’s got to get into,’’ Boone said. “He’s burned himself when he’s tried to throttle back up or down. That’s when he knows he’s been caught [before].”
The running style helped allow Stanton to play in more games and have more plate appearances — with a higher OPS — this past season than any since 2021.
Even with the added precaution, as well as a slimmed-down body, Stanton still missed over a month with a strained hamstring this past season.
But the Yankees have seen the damage his bat can do this time of year, with a career .932 postseason OPS.
