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Top 50: Mike Stanton, FLADuration: 00:01:452010 MLB.com's Top 50 Prospects: No. 3 Mike Stanton, OF, hit .255 with 28 homers in 2009 at two Minor League levels
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MLB.com's Top 50 Prospects, Florida Marlins
Related Video
Top 50: Logan Morrison, FLA
Rookie Prg: Logan Morrison
Related Links
Bio/stats: Morrison | Stanton
Complete Top 50 list
Breaking down the Top 50 Prospects
Marlins affiliates coverage
By Joe Frisaro / MLB.com
01/27/10 9:00 PM EST
MIAMI -- When Marlins prospect Mike Stanton digs into the batter's box, people take notice. If you're in the outfield seats, you may also want to take cover.
An imposing 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds, the 20-year-old slugger is establishing himself as one of the elite power hitters in the Minor Leagues. His sheer strength makes him a threat to hit the ball out on any pitch.
A former three-sport athlete in high school, Stanton combined for 28 home runs at Class A Jupiter and Double-A Jacksonville last season.
Stanton's impressive home run totals came after he went deep 39 times at low Class A Greensboro in 2008. Since reaching Greensboro in '08, the young outfielder is averaging a home run every 14.1 at-bats.
Posing such a threat, Stanton stands out.
For a couple of seasons, Stanton has been regarded as one of the best prospects in the game. His credentials are receiving more validation.
According to rankings by MLB.com, which were announced on Wednesday on the MLB Network, Stanton is regarded as the No. 3 prospect in the game.
Only Braves slugging outfielder Jason Heyward and Nationals pitching sensation Stephen Strasburg -- rated Nos. 1 and 2, respectively -- are higher than Stanton.
The MLB.com Top 50 rankings also includes Marlins first-base prospect Logan Morrison, who is rated No. 25.
Teammates at the end of the 2009 season, Stanton and Morrison were major reasons Jacksonville won the Southern League championship.
In the playoffs, Morrison batted .360 with four doubles and four RBIs.
Next month, Stanton will be in Spring Training with the Marlins, but since he still needs Minor League seasoning, he is expected to open the season in Jacksonville, Fla. The club is in no rush to speed up his development.
The Marlins haven't had a prospect as feared as Stanton since Miguel Cabrera broke in as a 20-year-old in 2003.
While Cabrera was a more polished overall hitter at a similar age, Stanton has the edge in slugging.
The raw power jumps out at you. At Spring Training last year during batting practice, Stanton put on a show. Regularly, he crushed balls that bounced against the Marlins' office building, which is set back behind the left-field wall.
Marlins hitting coach Jim Presley, who played for Seattle, remembers watching a 19-year-old Ken Griffey Jr. break in with the Mariners.
Last Spring Training, Presley compared Stanton to Griffey.
"Ken Griffey was a darn good player, but this kid is right up there with him," Presley said of Stanton at the time. "This kid has got more power than Junior did back then. But I think Junior had him defensively."
Before advancing him to the big leagues, the Marlins are looking for Stanton to get a better grasp of high-level Minor League pitching.
Stanton played 79 regular-season games with Jacksonville, and he hit .231 with 16 home runs and 53 RBIs.
After the 2009 Minor League season ended, Marlins vice president of player development and scouting Jim Fleming said: "The jump from Jupiter to Double-A is a good one. You want to challenge them. You want some tough spots in the Minor Leagues and see them get through it.
"It's not something you want them to have to experience for the first time at the big league level. It's part of the process to keep them challenged and push them a little bit."
The Marlins selected Stanton in the second round out of Notre Dame High School in California in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft. The same year, Florida picked third baseman Matt Dominguez in the first round.
Dominguez is also a top prospect in the Marlins' system, and both are from the Los Angeles area.
"Sick power," Dominguez said of Stanton in an interview last year. "[At Greensboro], he was hitting balls harder than I've ever seen in my life -- hitting curveballs, fastballs, changeups. He was hitting everything very hard and very far."
Dominguez recalls the first time he saw Stanton play. It was during practice for the Area Code Games at Long Beach State's Blair Field.
"He was this big guy, hitting the ball farther than anybody out there," Dominguez said in a 2009 interview. "Blair Field in Long Beach, it's a pretty big field. It wasn't even close. He was hitting them 100 feet past the wall.
"I saw that, and I was like, 'Who's this guy?' Yeah, he was pretty impressive."
Morrison, meanwhile, is a 22-year-old left-handed hitter who will get a chance to win a starting big league job. The Marlins have noted that they will look at Morrison and prospect Gaby Sanchez at first base when Spring Training begins.
Morrison also can play a corner-outfield spot, but the team feels defensively that he is a better-than-average defensive first baseman.
A broken bone in his right thumb limited Morrison to 79 games at Double-A last season, and he batted .277 with eight home runs and 47 RBIs. At Jupiter in 2008, he batted .332 and was named the Southern League's MVP.
"If I put up the numbers I need to, then hopefully I'll be on that Opening Day roster," Morrison said in a recent video interview with MLB.com. "That's what I've prepared for this whole offseason.
"If it doesn't happen, I'm not going to be all depressed. There will be other opportunities."
Top 50: Mike Stanton, FLADuration: 00:01:452010 MLB.com's Top 50 Prospects: No. 3 Mike Stanton, OF, hit .255 with 28 homers in 2009 at two Minor League levels
Video Tags
MLB.com's Top 50 Prospects, Florida Marlins
Related Video
Top 50: Logan Morrison, FLA
Rookie Prg: Logan Morrison
Related Links
Bio/stats: Morrison | Stanton
Complete Top 50 list
Breaking down the Top 50 Prospects
Marlins affiliates coverage
By Joe Frisaro / MLB.com
01/27/10 9:00 PM EST
MIAMI -- When Marlins prospect Mike Stanton digs into the batter's box, people take notice. If you're in the outfield seats, you may also want to take cover.
An imposing 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds, the 20-year-old slugger is establishing himself as one of the elite power hitters in the Minor Leagues. His sheer strength makes him a threat to hit the ball out on any pitch.
A former three-sport athlete in high school, Stanton combined for 28 home runs at Class A Jupiter and Double-A Jacksonville last season.
Stanton's impressive home run totals came after he went deep 39 times at low Class A Greensboro in 2008. Since reaching Greensboro in '08, the young outfielder is averaging a home run every 14.1 at-bats.
Posing such a threat, Stanton stands out.
For a couple of seasons, Stanton has been regarded as one of the best prospects in the game. His credentials are receiving more validation.
According to rankings by MLB.com, which were announced on Wednesday on the MLB Network, Stanton is regarded as the No. 3 prospect in the game.
Only Braves slugging outfielder Jason Heyward and Nationals pitching sensation Stephen Strasburg -- rated Nos. 1 and 2, respectively -- are higher than Stanton.
The MLB.com Top 50 rankings also includes Marlins first-base prospect Logan Morrison, who is rated No. 25.
Teammates at the end of the 2009 season, Stanton and Morrison were major reasons Jacksonville won the Southern League championship.
In the playoffs, Morrison batted .360 with four doubles and four RBIs.
Next month, Stanton will be in Spring Training with the Marlins, but since he still needs Minor League seasoning, he is expected to open the season in Jacksonville, Fla. The club is in no rush to speed up his development.
The Marlins haven't had a prospect as feared as Stanton since Miguel Cabrera broke in as a 20-year-old in 2003.
While Cabrera was a more polished overall hitter at a similar age, Stanton has the edge in slugging.
The raw power jumps out at you. At Spring Training last year during batting practice, Stanton put on a show. Regularly, he crushed balls that bounced against the Marlins' office building, which is set back behind the left-field wall.
Marlins hitting coach Jim Presley, who played for Seattle, remembers watching a 19-year-old Ken Griffey Jr. break in with the Mariners.
Last Spring Training, Presley compared Stanton to Griffey.
"Ken Griffey was a darn good player, but this kid is right up there with him," Presley said of Stanton at the time. "This kid has got more power than Junior did back then. But I think Junior had him defensively."
Before advancing him to the big leagues, the Marlins are looking for Stanton to get a better grasp of high-level Minor League pitching.
Stanton played 79 regular-season games with Jacksonville, and he hit .231 with 16 home runs and 53 RBIs.
After the 2009 Minor League season ended, Marlins vice president of player development and scouting Jim Fleming said: "The jump from Jupiter to Double-A is a good one. You want to challenge them. You want some tough spots in the Minor Leagues and see them get through it.
"It's not something you want them to have to experience for the first time at the big league level. It's part of the process to keep them challenged and push them a little bit."
The Marlins selected Stanton in the second round out of Notre Dame High School in California in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft. The same year, Florida picked third baseman Matt Dominguez in the first round.
Dominguez is also a top prospect in the Marlins' system, and both are from the Los Angeles area.
"Sick power," Dominguez said of Stanton in an interview last year. "[At Greensboro], he was hitting balls harder than I've ever seen in my life -- hitting curveballs, fastballs, changeups. He was hitting everything very hard and very far."
Dominguez recalls the first time he saw Stanton play. It was during practice for the Area Code Games at Long Beach State's Blair Field.
"He was this big guy, hitting the ball farther than anybody out there," Dominguez said in a 2009 interview. "Blair Field in Long Beach, it's a pretty big field. It wasn't even close. He was hitting them 100 feet past the wall.
"I saw that, and I was like, 'Who's this guy?' Yeah, he was pretty impressive."
Morrison, meanwhile, is a 22-year-old left-handed hitter who will get a chance to win a starting big league job. The Marlins have noted that they will look at Morrison and prospect Gaby Sanchez at first base when Spring Training begins.
Morrison also can play a corner-outfield spot, but the team feels defensively that he is a better-than-average defensive first baseman.
A broken bone in his right thumb limited Morrison to 79 games at Double-A last season, and he batted .277 with eight home runs and 47 RBIs. At Jupiter in 2008, he batted .332 and was named the Southern League's MVP.
"If I put up the numbers I need to, then hopefully I'll be on that Opening Day roster," Morrison said in a recent video interview with MLB.com. "That's what I've prepared for this whole offseason.
"If it doesn't happen, I'm not going to be all depressed. There will be other opportunities."
Stanton ranked 3rd, Morrison ranked 25th.
Anyone else thinks matt dominguez deserved a spot?