Giancarlo Stanton slogged through eight losing seasons in Miami, through 1,144 regular-season games before appearing in the playoffs.
So, for however frustrating it was for the former MVP to miss 144 games this season and constantly rehab a variety of injuries, everything Stanton always dreamed of remained within reach.
“That was terrible for me, so I just used [the playoffs] as this is what I built for. This is what I’m doing all this for, and just visualize what I can do,” Stanton said Thursday. “The tougher the day, the more repetitive it seemed, it was all looking forward to this.