Yankees' Giancarlo Stanton, healthy and mashing, has found his power stroke again

When Giancarlo Stanton swatted his 15th home run in the Yankees’ 5-1 victory over the Twins on Tuesday night, he joined Aaron Judge and Juan Soto in making franchise history.

Never before in Yankees lore had three players hit at least 15 home runs in the team’s first 62 games. Going into Wednesday, Judge had 21 and Soto had 17.

Even manager Aaron Boone admitted you kind of expect that type of production out of Judge and Soto. But Stanton has had so much trouble staying healthy over the past few years that you can’t really go into a season knowing what to expect.

“Obviously, what Aaron and Juan have been doing, MVP-type stuff,” Boone said. “What's just been really good about Giancarlo is, again, his work and focus this winter to put himself in a good position to go out there and play at a really high level. He has been that real threat in the middle of our lineup every day that he's in there. I feel like that consistent threat, that consistent quality of at-bat, has been there. I think a lot of that is attributed to his health and just being in a good physical spot, but also his commitment and determination and ability to make adjustments. But it's certainly been great seeing those guys play at the level they are.”

Stanton’s homer on Tuesday, which traveled 420 feet to the second deck in left, was his 150th as a Yankee. He had 267 in eight seasons with the Marlins for a total of 417.

Stanton is one of 13 players to hit at least 150 homers in both leagues. He joins former Yankees Carlos Beltran, Alfonso Soriano and Dave Winfield and five Hall of Famers (Winfield, Ken Griffey Jr., Vladimir Guerrero, Fred McGriff, and Frank Robinson).

Stanton was traded to the Yankees after his National League MVP season of 2017, when he hit 59 home runs. In 2018, he played in 158 games for the Yankees and hit 38 home runs.

But then the injury bug started to bite him hard. Last season, Stanton appeared in 101 games and hit a career low .191 with 24 home runs.

Something had to change. In the offseason, Stanton got leaner. So far, he has been healthy (knock wood) in his age-34 season.

“One thing he showed me, from the first season, and the adjustment of coming over here and coming over here as the National League MVP, and all that comes with being Giancarlo coming to the Yankees, and watching him navigate that -- his mental toughness is special,” Boone said. “He's always shown that. I think one of the challenges for him has been some of the injuries that he's had . . . But as far as his mental state, this guy's a killer. He's dealt with it all really, really well. He's here to win and that's what all this is working for. We want to hoist that [World Series] trophy and Giancarlo embodies that.”

Going into Wednesday, Stanton was batting .232 with 34 RBIs and a .779 OPS. Generally, he has been hitting fifth in the order, with only Alex Verdugo between him and the dynamic duo of Soto and Judge.

The Yankees went into the game on a six-game winning streak. At 43-19, they had the best record in the AL.

“It's unreal,” Stanton said. “We’re all clicking on all cylinders, and we don't even have to do it on all cylinders. It doesn't have to be the same person every night. It's really just putting pressure on every pitcher we face.”

By Anthony Rieber

anthony.rieber@newsday.comAnthonyRieber

Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.