Yankee Stadium Opening Day postponed due to snow: Stanton's first game in pinstripes will have to wait one more day
The home opener at Yankee Stadium was snowed out Monday
By
Mike Axisa
•
2 min read
NEW YORK -- Giancarlo Stanton's first game as a member of the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium will have to wait.
Monday afternoon's scheduled home opener between the Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays was postponed by snow. Although the white stuff was expected to stop coming down later in the morning, there is simply too much cleanup to be done to make the park playable.
"Just adds a little extra anticipation," said Stanton with a smile after the game was postponed. "It's going to be fun."
Stanton has played in Yankee Stadium before, as a member of the Miami Marlins. The Marlins visited the Bronx for a quick two-game series back in 2015, and Stanton did go deep. His first Yankee Stadium home run is already in the books.
"I think this ballpark is set up for him," said manager Aaron Boone following the postponement. "We'll just continue to encourage the approach we've seen from him (since the start of spring training) of really trying to work the ball the other way and back through the middle with that great power."
Stanton smacked two home runs on Opening Day, one the other way to right-center field and the other back up the middle. Like most hitters, most of his power comes to the pull side, but he's strong enough to drive the ball the other way with authority, which bodes well for a right-handed hitter in Yankee Stadium. He's been working to the opposite field since day one of camp.
"With a lot of our guys -- certainly Giancarlo and Aaron (Judge) -- their ability to even mis-hit the ball and (still) hit the ball out to all fields is a real luxury as a player, and why they're the impact players that they are," added Boone. "I think there's a comfort level as a hitter here -- as a right-handed hitter -- when you know you don't have to get the best of it to drive it out the other way."
The Yankees return home after splitting four games with the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. New York was in position to win all four games -- the bullpen let the third and fourth games of the series slip away -- even though Stanton was largely pitched around following Opening Day. He was walked three times Sunday.
Monday's game was rescheduled for Tuesday afternoon, though the weather forecast isn't great that day either. Whenever they play, Stanton's long anticipated move from pitcher friendly Marlins Park to homer happy Yankee Stadium will officially be underway.
