Giancarlo Stanton’s return shows his awkward place in Yankees universe

If the Yankees win and Giancarlo Stanton strikes out twice, does it make a sound?

The answer could definitively be found Tuesday night in the Bronx: Yes, it makes a rather significant sound, a melody of boos with a “You suck!” punctuating the scene.

Such is the existence currently led by Stanton, popular in his clubhouse and unpopular among his fan base. Even as the Yankees celebrated his return from the injured list by topping the Rays in the Bronx, 6-3, to lengthen their American League East lead to 2½ games, the owner of the franchise’s largest contract nevertheless drew heat with his 0-for-4 performance.

The negative feedback began with his very first at-bat, when he fouled out to Rays catcher Mike Zunino to end the first inning and strand Aaron Hicks at first base. That balanced the thunderous ovation he received when public address announcer Paul Olden said his name during the pregame introductions.

“It’s how it goes,” Stanton said of the first-night-back roller coaster; while he thrilled the paying audience by leaping into the right-field stands to snare Travis d’Arnaud’s second-inning foul pop, the boos crescendoed in the fifth when Stanton left a pair of teammate on base as he struck out on three Chaz Roe pitches.

Aaron Boone, asked to evaluate Stanton’s first big-league game since March 31, said, “OK. Still kind of finding his way and finding his timing, and he’ll get there. Just working his way back into trying to find that timing.”

Stanton simultaneously owns much room for error, in that he doesn’t need to rescue this well-oiled Yankees machine, and little room for error, in that he’ll be an easy target if the team slumps.

After grinding through left hamstring issues last year, his maiden pinstriped voyage, to play in 158 regular-season games, Stanton made it through only three contests in 2019 before tearing his left biceps, which led to a strained left shoulder, and then a baseball to his left knee/calf during batting practice in Tampa (while he was coming back from the biceps and shoulder conditions) shut him down again.

“That wasn’t a fun time,” Stanton said.

His absence, to boot, didn’t make hearts grow fonder. Thanks to the offseason acquisition of DJ LeMahieu, the rebirth of Gary Sanchez and the legitimacy of Luke Voit, among other contributors, the Yankees have scored plenty despite missing their twin towers. With 5.38 runs per game, they rank third in the AL. Their .259 batting average stands at fourth-best and their 625 strikeouts mark the 10th-most. Contrast that with last year’s final rankings — second in runs, eighth in batting average and the third-most strikeouts — and, well, you know how some folks feel about teams hitting too many damn home runs and striking out too damn much. Speaking of which, the Yankees are tied (with Oakland) for fourth in the AL with 115 homers after setting a major league record with last year’s 267.

The concern, therefore, is that Stanton, who led last year’s Yankees with 211 strikeouts while going deep 38 times plus another seven strikeouts (and one homer) in his first postseason, might disrupt what has been a high-functioning unit in his absence. He didn’t on Tuesday, as the Yankees’ game-winning fifth featured five singles before Stanton whiffed.

“I think the more contact we can make, certainly the better,” Boone said. “But I don’t want to ever sacrifice who we are and that gets back to the point of, we’re trying to improve as players, as hitters, as defenders, how we run the bases, how we prepare for everything.”

Last year marked Stanton’s career high in strikeouts by a significant margin; his second-worst total was 170 in 2014. If he can whiff at the latter rate — once every 3.75 plate appearances, as opposed to once every 3.34 plate appearances in 2018 — that would amount to approximately one fewer strikeout per week. His first day back, though, didn’t create any optimism on that front.

“The boys have been fun to watch while I’ve been gone,” Stanton said. “It’s going to be good to file in and battle with them.”

The more fun he has, the fewer boos he hears, the better it bodes for Stanton and the Yankees.