Giancarlo Stanton’s value to Yankees continues to grow

The Yankees sledgehammered the Red Sox with the long ball Saturday night, two homers from Aaron Judge and two three-run blasts from Matt Carpenter, who has done everything in his 30 games with the team but send a ball crashing into the outfield lights, Roy Hobbs style.

This 14-1 victory was a cruel reminder that the Red Sox are 15 ½ games behind the Yankees for a reason. The blowout didn’t require much from Giancarlo Stanton other than a double, a couple of walks, and three runs scored, which is telling since he had nine homers in his previous 13 games against Boston, including a winning grand slam last September, and a losing solo shot (and three hits) in the wild-card playoff game last October.

It was more proof that the 2022 Yankees can beat opponents with all kinds of people in all kinds of ways.

Of course, nothing is certain in the postseason, other than the soul-crushing agony of defeat. So the Yankees are looking for near certainties to avoid that feeling, and maybe, just maybe, a trade for Juan Soto might be as good as a Joe Namath guarantee on the championship front.

Meanwhile, with Judge serving as the acting face of baseball, it’s worth noting that his bash brother, Stanton, is someone the Yankees can very much count on in the postseason. And that makes Stanton a lot more valuable than most fans would have believed over his first four years in The Bronx.

Too many injuries. Too many strikeouts. Too many days and nights as a lumbering designated hitter.

Too many missed chances to live up to the monstrous MVP numbers and monstrous contractual commitments the Yankees inherited when they made the trade with the Marlins after the 2017 season.

Those were the facts that inspired the booing, and so much angst over Stanton’s presence on a team anchored by a similar and superior player in Judge. Now Stanton, a starting outfielder in the All-Star Game, has established himself as a resilient, pressure-proof postseason force perfectly suited for New York.

“I understand how much more distractions and noise are here, but that’s also a learning curve as well,” Stanton told The Post. “I wouldn’t say nothing bothers me, but in terms of what I can control, I try not to let outside things bother me in terms of preparation or my mindset or how I perform.”

Stanton said his October production is the natural result of improvement through experience. He has nine homers and 17 RBIs in 18 postseason games with the Yankees (including eight homers and 15 RBIs in his last 10), with an OPS of 1.108. For context, Judge has 11 homers and 22 RBIs in 35 postseason games, with an OPS of .843 and an on-base percentage (.340) 33 points lower than Stanton’s.

Why is the man who once accepted a record $325 million over 13 years from the Marlins this reliable when it matters most?

“I think it’s a tribute to him, to be really strong mentally,” manager Aaron Boone said. “If something good or bad with him happens within the context of the game, he’s really good at just continuing to move on, and ultimately that’s such an important quality to have. … He has that, and I think playing here has just sharpened that.

“He’s learned how to deal with criticism, noise, good and bad. … And I just think that overall speaks to the kind of pro he is.”

People talk about Stanton’s professionalism and preparation with ease. Boone said that he has continued “to gain more and more gravitas and respect” in the clubhouse, and that his words of wisdom make teammates stop and think. Stanton doesn’t come across as a star whose constituents are limited to me, myself, and I.

He told The Post that he passed on the Home Run Derby in Los Angeles, his hometown, because he needed time to rest during a painfully short All-Star break for him. Team-centric reasons, in other words.

Stanton also said that, as a former National League MVP who delivered a 59-homer, 132-RBI season in Miami, he has no problem with the fact that Judge is the undisputed franchise player in The Bronx, the Batman to his Robin.

“You let great people be great,” Stanton said. “What is the point of a rivalry? He’s on my team. This isn’t a popularity contest. We’re here to win, and the better he is, the better we are, and the more we are going to win.”

And the Yankees (63-28) have won this year more than anyone else, with Stanton contributing 24 homers and 61 RBIs. Thirteen of his last 22 hits have been home runs, including a three-run laser that put the Yankees ahead on Friday night. Thirty-one of Stanton’s 59 homers the past two seasons have either tied a game or given the Yankees a lead.

“Every time he steps to the plate,” Judge said, “if there’s bases loaded or nobody on, he has a chance to swing the game in our favor with just one swing of the bat. So it’s been fun to watch him all year do his thing. I’m still waiting for him to get hot. It’s pretty crazy. … I can’t wait to see him go on one of those streaks.”

Giancarlo Stanton has shown he’s quite capable of one of those streaks in October. He just needs the rest of the Yankees to play along.