After arriving at Yankee Stadium on Thursday, Aaron Judge said he quickly noticed a “different look” in Giancarlo Stanton’s eyes. Stanton had been in a funk, hitting .161 with just one homer over his previous 16 games. That poor stretch ended Thursday, though, as the designated hitter went 2-for-4 with a solo homer off Corbin Burnes and a three-run double as the Yankees clinched the American League East with a 10-1 win over the Orioles. “He was locked in,” Judge said. “He had a different focus, like that playoff Stanton we’ve seen so many times.” By “playoff Stanton,” Judge was referring to a hitter with a .260/.327/.635 slash line, 11 home runs and 24 RBI over 27 postseason games. With the Yankees now prepping for the American League Division Series, they sure would love to see that version of the slugger in October. Based on the past few months, there’s good reason to believe that’s who they’ll get. Stanton has enjoyed a resurgent season after two disappointing, injury-plagued campaigns, totaling 27 homers and 72 RBI while working around a hamstring strain that kept him out for roughly a month over the summer. While he was hitting just .235 with a .300 OBP entering Friday, his job is to crush baseballs and drive runners in. He’s done that all year, forming a Big Three with Judge and Juan Soto, who each surpassed 40 homers. “He’s the X factor for us,” said Judge, who leads the majors with 58 longballs after also going deep Thursday. “When you have him in the middle of the lineup, driving guys in, hitting big homers, it just gives this lineup so much depth and really takes the pressure off a lot of guys.” Stanton is plenty familiar with pressure, as there was certainly some on the highly-paid former MVP after he hit below The Mendoza Line while playing in just 101 games last season. With the 34-year-old hampered by lower-body injuries for years, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman irritated Stanton and his agent over the winter when he assumed another injury would occur this season. Cashman turned out to be correct, but a leaner Stanton stayed relatively healthy and consistent after revamping his body and training routine over the offseason. “Obviously he missed a month or whatever, but in and around that, it’s been five months of health,” Aaron Boone said. “He really focused on doing all he could this offseason to set himself up to be healthy, and we’ve reaped those benefits. He’s been a threat however many times he’s been in that lineup. He’s been a threat every day, and there has been some consistency there.” Boone added that Stanton’s mental toughness helped him bounce back this season. “He’s very meticulous in how he prepares,” the manager continued. “He’s not affected by a bad at-bat, the emotions, the noise around this that could leak in for some guys. He’s been through that. He knows how to handle it. He knows how to [put] blinders on.” On Thursday, Stanton seemed to let loose for a bit after helping the Yankees clinch a division that many expected the Orioles to win. With a cap titled and backwards on his champagne-soaked head, he enjoyed himself as the Yankees partied for the second time in a week. “You can’t take this for granted at all,” said Stanton, whose brutal 2023 season certainly contributed to the Yankees missing the playoffs last year. “It’s expected, for sure. but sometimes, like last year, it didn’t happen. So you gotta appreciate it. We’re here now. Enjoy it. You never know if you ever get a chance at it again.” But those aforementioned blinders were also present during the celebration. Asked if the Yankees were the team to beat this October, Stanton stood tall and replied, “We better be. That’s the point.”