MIAMI – Because of his relatively modest statistics against Atlanta, a casual Braves fan might not fully comprehend just how special that Miami slugger Giancarlo Stanton is, or how much raw power he possesses.
But Braves players know. They’ve seen him in spring training, watched him take batting practice, talked to friends who’ve played with Stanton and seen his light-tower power on a nightly basis.
“Yeah, it’s impressive,” Braves catcher Evan Gattis said of Stanton, one of the few major leaguers with as much or more power than Gattis has. “Just don’t make a mistake to that guy.”
Braves utility player Emilio Bonifacio spent four seasons with the Marlins from through 2012, overlapping the first three seasons of Stanton’s career.
Stanton hit 22 homers in 396 plate appearances and 100 games as a rookie in 2010, had 34 homers in 2011, and in 2012 posted career-bests of 37 homers and a .290 batting average with a National League-leading .608 slugging percentage in just 123 games.
Bonifacio said from the first day he saw the 6-foot-6, 240-pound Californian, he knew this was another level of power-hitting prospect than any he’d seen before.
“I saw him in spring training, his first time,” Bonifacio said. “Very strong guy. His first year in big-league camp, he was not on the roster, but, like, you could see how far he could hit a ball. When they said he hadn’t played much baseball, that made it even more impressive. But you could tell right away.”
Stanton, still just 24, continues to improve. He had two hits including a two-run double and a stolen base in Friday’s 11-3 series-opening rout of the Braves, and entered Saturday game batting .296 and leading NL hitters in home runs (36), RBIs (104), on-base percentage (.402), slugging percentage (.567), walks (90) and WAR (6.5).
His 24 intentional walks were more than twice as many as any other NL hitter had before Saturday, and a reminder of the fact that Stanton has produced at such a prodigious rate this season despite being the center of a lineup devoid of other stars or feared sluggers.
“That’s why it’s even more impressive,” Bonifacio said.
Stanton is the one guy that other teams focus on in their pitching meetings before a series against the Marlins, determined to do whatever they can to not let him beat them. Yet he does quite frequently anyway, as evident by the fact that the youthful Marlins, who have only one other hitter with as many as 15 homers and only two others with as many as 50 RBIs, were only four games behind the Braves in the NL East standings before Saturday.
In his past 45 games, Stanton had a .299 average with 15 homers, 41 RBIs and a .628 slugging percentage, and the Marlins were 24-21 in those games.
Against the Braves, Stanton was batting just .227 (15-for-66) with five doubles, two homers and 24 strikeouts in 17 games before Saturday, but had four multi-hit games in the past seven. And the Braves know how quickly he can change a game with one swing, even if he’s not done it as often against them as he has against most teams.
Stanton had a .226 career average, .346 OBP and .417 slugging percentage with 10 homers in 68 games against Atlanta before Saturday. Compare that with his lines against the other NL East opponents: .317/.415/.696 with 22 homers in 65 games vs. Washington, .271/.353/.508 with 15 homers in 64 games vs. Philadelphia, and .260/.346/.511 with 16 homers in 65 games vs. New York.
He’s hit more homers in 31 games apiece against the Giants and Rockies – 11 homers against each – and the same number of homers (10) in 29 games against Arizona as he had in 68 games against the Braves before Saturday.
The Braves would prefer not to discuss that. Let sleeping dogs lie and just get through this last series against the Marlins without the big man doing what he can do.
About the Author
