Forget about the blistering start at the plate. Forget about the multi-hit performances in each of the Yankees’ first five contests to start the year and the history Giancarlo Stanton made — as the fifth player in franchise history to accomplish that feat — along the way. A few years ago, and as recently as last year and this spring, there wasn’t a guarantee he’d be in this spot in the first place.

A massive contract, one the Yankees didn’t hand the slugger but instead willingly took on back in December 2017, was aging poorly. Injuries added up. Then tennis elbow in each arm delayed the start of his 2025 campaign until June. There was even the infamous remark from spring training this year with Stanton saying he couldn’t even grip a bag of potato chips, though everything that transpired and was said in the aftermath certainly pushed back on that notion.

Stanton, on paper, made sense in years past as the next veteran — one who struggled at times to replicate his vintage power — the Yankees could jettison, joining a lengthy list that included Josh Donaldson, Joey Gallo, Aaron Hicks and DJ LeMahieu.

But perhaps the second-most encouraging sign from this 5-1 Yankees start, behind their pitching, has been Stanton serving as the stabilizing force of their offense. There hasn’t been much power beyond Aaron Judge to start the year. There’s been dominant pitching, with Cam Schlittler striking out seven without giving up a run in 6 ⅓ inningsone night after Max Fried tossed a second consecutive scoreless outing to open the season.