AL DIVISION SERIES: ROYALS VS YANKEES

October 4, 2024

Giancarlo Stanton

Yankee Stadium

New York Yankees

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. How are you feeling physically and mentally going into the postseason this year?

GIANCARLO STANTON: Feeling good. We had a few days to sharpen some things up and relax a bit as well as get some work in.

I think me and everyone is excited to get going tomorrow.

Q. How about the energy of the squad? How is the chemistry feeling going into this postseason?

GIANCARLO STANTON: Great, great, as it has been all year. Yeah, we've been off enough. We're just ready to rock.

Q. Is it cool to be joining this, I guess, Yankees-Royals rivalry that dates back so many decades in the playoffs?

GIANCARLO STANTON: I wasn't too aware of it, to be honest. But yeah, we're here now, and make a new one or current one, but the focus is to get the series. We don't want it to be much of a rivalry.

Q. You've played with some Yankee teams that have almost gotten to the World Series and some teams that never even made it to the playoffs. What is your intuition about this team this year? What does your gut tell you?

GIANCARLO STANTON: We need to get it done. There's so many obstacles or reasons or rhymes that it hasn't happened in the years past. We have the group to do it. Now we've got to put it together.

There's a thing about talking about it and what's on paper and all that, but at the end of the day, we've got to get it done, execute, and we have the best team for that.

Q. Aaron Judge was just saying that every October you guys don't make it to the World Series there's a responsibility on his part, that it's his fault. Have you sensed that weighing on him as the years go by without a championship here?

GIANCARLO STANTON: I mean, he and we understand the weight of what we need to do, the importance of this time, the importance of bringing a championship to the city. Yeah, as the years go on, it's why you don't take this time for granted. You're not guaranteed these moments, these times. And as the years have gone on of not accomplishing that, that window isn't going to be open forever.

Q. This season adding Juan to the batting order with you and Aaron, and you have Austin in the middle there, too, has it changed the way pitchers pitch when they get to you?

GIANCARLO STANTON: I just love the dynamic of it, of the right, left, right, left, where it makes it very difficult to make a decision on the other side of who do you want to have a better matchup, what part of the game is it, the weight of each at-bat. It's very interesting, and it does help us to get a better look, and yeah, it's been cool.

Q. Do you notice it being more stressful for opposing pitchers, that dynamic?

GIANCARLO STANTON: For sure. For sure. The lineups, one side heavy loaded, it's a pretty simple decision. It's not too much strategy there. But we make it tougher on them.

Q. You've had some pretty good playoff moments in your career. What do you like most about playing this time of year?

GIANCARLO STANTON: The weight of the moment. Every pitch can be the deciding factor of your season. Every out, every pitch is cumulative of the six, seven years of preparation for this. You can't shy away from that. You have to understand that and embrace it and quiet it and get it done.