With yet another blast on Sunday afternoon, it was the ninth homer in 10 games for Miami Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton, and fourth straight game with one.
The 6’6” outfielder now has 42 home runs on the season, a Major League best and career high. Stanton’s currently tied with Gary Sheffield (1996) for the franchise’s single-season home run record.
Earlier today, Stanton was named the NL Player of the Week. It was the fifth such honor of his career and first since July 2016. In the week spanning August 6-12, Stanton hit .333 with six homers and 11 RBIs in seven games.
Stanton, 27, now has 250 career home runs—the most in Marlins history, and 27th most among active players.
In 12 August games, Stanton’s hitting .356/.420/1.022 with nine homers and 17 RBIs. This month’s surge started with a two-home run game against the Atlanta Braves on August 4. At the time, it was Stanton’s fifth multi-home run effort in his last 24 games, and first home run since July 26.
Since July 5 spanning 33 games, Stanton’s gone deep 21 times. Last night, ESPN displayed a graphic showing how this recent surge compares to others in recent memory:
Sammy Sosa finished 1998 with 66 blasts, and Barry Bonds finished with the record of 73 in 2001. Any time you’re getting compared to some of the elite home run seasons of all-time? Definitely worth noting.
Currently, ESPN projects Stanton to finish the year with 59 home runs. This would be the most in MLB in a season since 2001, when Bonds and Sosa (64) surpassed that total. He’s also on pace to finish the season with about 380 total bases, but that number could increase down the stretch if he keeps this up. Stanton’s got a serious push for a 400 total base season, something that’s been done 29 times in MLB history. Of those seasons, eight have come since 1978, and it was done last in 2001 when four accomplished the feat.
Colorado Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon is on pace to finish the season with just over 400 total bases. His 291 total bases currently leads the majors.
Just like his 42 home runs, Stanton’s .635 slugging percentage is best in the bigs right now. In addition, he’s second in total bases (271), tied for fourth in RBIs (90), fourth in runs (88), and seventh in OPS (1.006) in MLB at the weekend’s conclusion.
Stanton will be back in action tonight as the Marlins begin a three-game home set with the San Francisco Giants.