Yankees’ Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton have taken a ‘dramatically different approach’ to their offseason training
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Yankees sluggers Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton are two of the most physically fit athletes in the major leagues, and are known to hit for power.
Despite their strengths, both have struggled with staying healthy on the field. This offseason, both stars decided to change the way they work out and improve their bodies. Yankees Director of Player Health and Performance Eric Cressey spoke about their training with YES Network on Thursday.
“Both of those guys took a dramatically different approach this offseason from what they’ve previously done,” Cressey said. “I’d say in both cases, they lifted less than they have in the past. Aaron in particular has really taken a heavy interest in a lot of yoga…
“Also, we have to be mindful of the stresses on guys who are 6-foot-7, 6-foot-8. Big dudes standing around for long periods of time in cleats. Those are things that normal people don’t encounter. So I think we’ve understood that their preparation has to be remarkably different, in terms of not just building them up as athletes, but building them up as baseball players. Where there is a gradual on ramping of those specific stressors, running the bases, changing direction, swinging. Both of those guys are in a good place.”
Judge played in 28 games during the 2020 season, hitting nine home runs and 22 RBI over 101 at-bats. Injuries have slowed down the two-time All-Star, as he missed 50 games in 2018 and 60 games in 2019. Judge played in 155 games during his historic rookie season in 2017.
After hitting 38 HRs in his first season with the Yanks in 2018, Stanton has managed to hit just seven homers combined the last two seasons. He played in only 18 games during the 2019 season, and then just 23 games during the shortened 2020 season. Despite all the injuries, Cressey believes in what he’s seen of Stanton.
“You know particularly with Stanton, we saw really really good glimpses of what G is when he’s going good,” he said.
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