The 2020 MLB season has arrived. The New York Yankees and Washington Nationals opened the 60-game season Thursday night at Nationals Park (live updates here) and the Bronx Bombers did not wait long to live up to their nickname.
In the first inning Thursday night, Giancarlo Stanton hit the season's first home run to give New York an early 2-0 lead. Aaron Judge singled earlier in the inning for the season's first hit. To the action footage:
The 1st homer of 2020 belongs to @Giancarlo818. 💪 pic.twitter.com/Q1cZCu7m0E
— MLB (@MLB) July 23, 2020
The first homer of the season was not a cheapie. Statcast measures Stanton's dinger at 459 feet and says the ball left his bat at 112.2 mph. That'll play.
Max Scherzer is on the short list of the game's best pitchers but Stanton has seen him plenty thanks to his time with the NL East rival Marlins. Stanton was 4 for 18 (.222) with two home runs and nine strikeouts against Scherzer going into Thursday.
Injuries limited Stanton to 18 games last season. He hit .288/.403/.492 in those 18 games. Stanton socked 38 homers with a .266/.343/.509 batting line in 158 games in 2018, his first season in pinstripes.
Two of our six CBS Sports MLB scribes picked Stanton to win AL Comeback Player of the Year this season.
