The Yankees faced the reigning champion Nationals in D.C. on Saturday night (NYY-WAS GameTracker), and Yanks slugger Giancarlo Stanton entered this tilt with already one home run under his belt for the season. Promptly and loudly, Stanton made it two home runs in as many games. You're going to want to get a load of this one: 

That's a vintage Stanton crush-job, and it's worth emphasizing the relevant digits on that one: 

That's within a hailing distance of 500 feet, and that's top-of-the-scale exit velocity. Suffice it to say, the Washington outfield didn't bother with even perfunctory levels of pursuit of that launched baseball: 

To put in perspective, it's one of the most authoritative home runs of the Statcast era (i.e., since 2015): 

That, by the way, is a list that covers all of MLB, not just the Yankees. 

Stanton's start to the season is highly encouraging given the depths he reached in 2019. Injuries limited him to just 18 games played last year, and over those 18 games he managed just three home runs. So he's one dinger away from equaling his 2019 total. 

Beyond the personal, Stanton is the Yankees' DH and a vital component of their offense in a season that is in some ways "World Series or bust" for New York. Yes, the Yankees are rich in offensive depth, but nothing would move the needle quite like Stanton in peak form for his age-30 campaign. Thus far, all signs point to "peak form."