The disappointment of slugger Giancarlo Stanton
Giancarlo Stanton‘s blessing is also a curse. He swings a baseball bat with such a violent ferocity that few can hit a ball harder or farther than him. According to ESPN Home Run Tracker, Stanton has the longest two true distance shots of the season, both be measured at 484 feet. The average true distance of his 27 shots this season measures 417.6 feet, good for fifth highest in MLB.
The Miami Marlins right-fielder broke the hamate bone in his left wrist simply by swinging and missing at a pitch. The torque behind such a force on Friday evening caused the $325 million man to undergo surgery on Sunday and he’s expected to be on the disabled list for 4-6 weeks.
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No one can be more disgruntled by this revelation than Stanton. But for a second straight season, Marlins fans and his owners in fantasy baseball have to be pretty upset too. It’s disappointing because Stanton was leading all of MLB in home runs and RBI at the time of his injury. In 2014 his season was cut short a couple weeks, so fans still don’t know what he is capable of over the course of a full regular season schedule. He’s played in over 145 games only once in his career so far.
2015 helped give us a pretty good idea, though. Finishing with 37 homers and 105 RBI last season, after 74 games played in 2014 Stanton had gone deep 20 times and driven in 57. This year, of course, the slugger was having a career year with 27 long shots and 67 RBI through the same amount of games played.
From a broad level, the injury is disappointing because this will be the third season in his last five that Stanton will not reach 500 at-bats in a season. He will also no longer suit up for the All-Star Game, though he’s surely worthy. Fans probably would have loved to see him put on a show in the Home Run Derby as well. Now that’s out the window.
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Hitting . 344 in June before injuring himself, it wasn’t enough to help make the Marlins winners in the month. They have won 11 games and lost 15 thus far with one left to be played. Their 11 wins are the most by the club in a single month this season. Two inevitable by-products of the Stanton injury will be more at-bats for Ichiro Suzuki in his quest to reach 3,000 career hits on American soil, but also, the Marlins will undoubtedly now be sellers at the July 31 trade deadline.
Ichiro has 42 hits on the year and 2,886 in his MLB career. It would take a lot for the 41-year-old to reach the milestone this season. And there is no guarantee he will even be in Miami by the time the regular season comes to a close. He signed a one-year deal with the Marlins and along with pitchers like Mat Latos and Dan Haren who are going to be free agents in 2016, you better believe all three will be on the radars of contenders as trade pieces in the coming 30 days.
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The biggest insecurity the Marlins organization might have now though is that the club has a player on their team capable of removing himself from the lineup by doing nothing more than completing one of the most basic, fundamental motions of the game. To swing a bat and put yourself out of commission for over a month is a true detriment to both himself and his club. With the amount of millions invested in Stanton, Miami’s front office wants to be hopeful this injury (or one similar) will not become a nagging, re-occurring trend through the remainder of his career.
Stanton led the National League with a home run for every 14.6 at-bats logged in 2014. His pace of 10.3 AB/HR was a vast improvement in 2015 with the Nationals’ Bryce Harper barely edging him out by a mark of 9.95. For a player of his skill set and monstrous potential, letdowns should be expected in Stanton’s career. But it’s tough to see his pace abandoned right now during a time in baseball when home runs are at a premium compared to pitching and defense.
For what it’s worth, Giancarlo Stanton will only be in his age 26 season next year. But if he’s ever going to become prolific and make a bid for Cooperstown, the slugger will need to average more than his current mark of 118 GP per season. That number will drop even more still once his latest stint on the DL comes to an end.