Giancarlo Stanton has drawn plenty of comparisons to Alex Rodriguez throughout his career — and now he has one he’d probably prefer not to have: a miserable debut in the postseason.
Stanton’s first foray into the playoffs didn’t go as he had hoped and he wound up hearing a familiar sound in The Bronx in a season-ending 4-3 Game 4 loss in the ALDS.
The designated hitter came up as the tying run in the bottom of the ninth and struck out against Boston closer Craig Kimbrel and was booed loudly following the at-bat.
“You’ve got to put the ball in play and get a pitch out over the plate,’’ Stanton said.
Stanton also heard it from the Stadium crowd after his grounder to short ended the sixth.
The Yankees offense spent much of the series half-asleep at the plate, but no one drew more focus than Stanton, who was invisible again in Tuesday’s series — and season — ending loss to the Red Sox.
The DH went 0-for-4 Tuesday and finished the series 4-for-18 while leaving 12 runners on base.
“It’s a disappointment,’’ Stanton said. “We didn’t get where we wanted to.”
And he’s not satisfied with just having reached the postseason.
“I don’t want to experience the postseason,’’ Stanton said. “I want to win it all. I’m disappointed, as are the guys that went further last year. They got two years in a row. We’ll use this as fuel for next year.”
Aaron Boone knows they could have used more from the slugger.
“He threw some hits out there, a little up and down, had some good at-bats, got on base a little bit,’’ the manager said. “Obviously [he] had some chances where he could have made a big difference with a big hit or whatever, and it just didn’t happen in this series. That’s part of it. But that’s also why we have nine guys. It’s not all about one guy, and we just weren’t able to get enough.”
Stanton had plenty of company throughout the ALDS, since only Aaron Judge produced consistently, but the Yankees expected more from Stanton, whom they acquired last December in a trade with the Marlins.
Stanton ended the regular season with 38 homers and had stretches of dominance at the plate, but also went through horrendous slumps in his first season as a Yankee.
And with the opportunity to deliver in the postseason, Stanton came up small.
He finished with five hits in 22 playoff at-bats, which is worse when you consider only one went for extra bases. And that was a home run in an already lopsided victory over Oakland in the wild-card game.
“We’ve got to bring out the positives and build on them for next year,’’ Stanton said.
And he took little solace in the ninth-inning rally.
“We were right there with an opportunity,’’ Stanton said. “Either way, a loss is a loss.”
Stanton was brought in to join Judge and Gary Sanchez in what was expected to be a fearsome lineup. He ended up leading the Yankees with 38 homers and 100 RBIs, but his all-or-nothing approach at the plate showed that last season’s NL MVP isn’t the complete hitter that Judge is.
Stanton showed a willingness to move to left field and played defense more than one would have imagined, thanks to injuries in the outfield — including Judge’s right wrist chip fracture that sidelined the right fielder for close to two months in the latter part of the season.
Stanton will turn 29 next month and he is under contract through 2027, if he doesn’t opt out following the 2020 season.
After his homer against Oakland, Stanton opened the ALDS by whiffing four times in the Yankees 5-4 loss in Game 1 at Fenway Park.
And Stanton’s only multi-hit game of the playoffs came when he singled twice in Monday’s 16-1 drubbing at the Stadium.
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