Giancarlo Stanton, OF

[MiamiHomer]

Prodigy Dept.: After we extolled 20-year-old Marlins masher Mike Stanton last week, a scout covering the Marlins' system checked in to say we might have undersold him.

"I saw Ryan Howard in Double-A at 24, and I swore I'd never seen anything like that at that level -- but then I saw Mike Stanton, at 20," the scout said. "He's got Dave Winfield's body, with the skill set of Jayson Werth. He can run. He can throw. And he's got off-the-charts raw power."

Stanton's latest stat line for your amazement: .349/.493/.844, a ridiculous 1.337 OPS, more homers (15) than singles (14), 35 RBIs and a 31-to-33 walk-strikeout ratio in his first 30 games for Jacksonville.

And his 14th homer of the year -- last week in Montgomery, Ala. -- is already legendary. It was only the second ball in the history of Riverwalk Stadium to clear the 60-foot-high scoreboard in left-center field in Montgomery, and it landed in a forest approximately 500 feet from home plate.

Two things about Stanton's season that haven't gotten enough attention, said the same scout: (1) "He's doing it in a really big park. But he's making that park in Jacksonville look small." And (2) "his knowledge of the strike zone has improved so much. He's not hacking and flailing anymore."

"It's just so good for the game to have kids like Stephen Strasburg, Jason Heyward and Mike Stanton coming onto the scene," the scout said. "That's three guys we'll all get to enjoy for the next decade -- and maybe a lot longer."

Just something from ESPN insider I saw.

[FishFanInPA]

can he steal bases?

[Bobbob1313]

He doesn't.

[CrimsonCane]

Hard to steal bases when all you hit is HRs.

[Fritz]

I'm confused, they compared a non-white athlete to a white athlete. My brain hurts.

[Ramp]

Stanton 0/5 k

[MiamiHomer]

Ramp, what's your take on Brandon Tripp? He seems to be having a very nice season so far although the BB:K ratio isn't that great.

[Ramp]

I got nothing on him. His splits are awesome from this year, nothing weak in the bunch.

[Todd]

I'm confused, they compared a non-white athlete to a white athlete. My brain hurts.

That, and the vise versa, happens rarely.

[Flum]

Clark Spencer was feeling left out, so he wrote an article about our little wunderkind too.

BY CLARK SPENCER
CSPENCER@MIAMIHERALD.COM
JACKSONVILLE --
Alex Rodriguez was here once but didn't shake a big stick.

“Hit one home run for us was all,” Jacksonville Suns president Peter Bragan Jr. said.
Randy Johnson pitched here one entire season, but he was remembered for his long locks and lack of control.

“Wild as any turkey ever got to be,” said Fran Williams, 85, a Suns season-ticket holder for 27 years. “He had that hair, and when he pitched and got sweaty, he had the nastiest head of hair you ever seen.”

Larry Walker, Matt Kemp and James Loney all played for Double A Jacksonville on their respective climbs to the big leagues.
Exceptional players all of them.

But as the fans are settling into their seats at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville one recent evening, Bragan points to the right fielder for the Suns, the largest physical specimen on the diamond, and says, “I don't know if I've ever seen anybody like Mike Stanton.”

The 6-5, 233-pound outfielder isn't merely the Marlins' top young prospect, a 20-year-old slugger with almost mythical power. He hit a home run in Montgomery, Ala., last week that some say traveled more than 500 feet, maybe 550. He's ranked as one of the premier prospects anywhere, a rare talent that emerges only now and then.

Marlins outfielder Cameron Maybin, who roomed with Stanton during spring training, called him “The Beast.” His teammates on the Suns have referred to him as “The Freak.” His hitting coach on the Suns used the words “Paul Bunyan” to describe him.

“He's a man-child,” Suns pitcher Jeff Allison said. “The ball off his bat is a different sound. It's like dropping a huge wooden rocking chair from 200 feet and hearing it crash into the ground. That's the sound the ball makes on his bat. And the ball travels. He can hit the ball over the wall, off the wall, and through the wall.”

Most agree that Stanton is the best young hitter the Marlins have produced since Miguel Cabrera. And, like Cabrera in 2003, Stanton could be earning a promotion to the Marlins in June, late enough in the season that they can delay the start of his salary arbitration and free agent years.

“Cabrera didn't have as much raw power at this level,” said John Mallee, the Marlins' minor-league hitting coordinator. “Albert Pujols doesn't have as much bad speed. But Stanton is not going to be just a power guy, even though his raw power is crazy. He's going to be a hitter with power. He is gifted beyond belief.”

INTENSE WORK ETHIC

Stanton's 15 home runs are the most in professional baseball, majors and minors, and he is hitting a robust .349. But Stanton isn't just about gaudy numbers. He's about the time and effort he puts in to make himself a better player.
Teammates and coaches marvel at his work ethic.

“You never see him goofing off,” Suns hitting coach Corey Hart said.

Hart said that Stanton has designed a drill on his own to help improve his pitch recognition and strike-zone discipline. Hart operates a mechanical pitching machine that throws hard sliders and breaking pitches. Stanton, standing at the plate, watches the ball at the point of delivery and, without ever turning his head to follow its flight, points his hand out to where he believes the pitch crossed the plate based on its spin at the time it left the machine.

“He's pretty accurate,” Hart said. “If he's off, he's not more than two balls off at any time. Most of the time, it's like half a ball up or down, in or out.”

Hart also works with Stanton on another flip drill inside the batting cages.

“He doesn't want to see strikes,” Hart said. “He actually has me throw them at his back hip.”
Hart said he has never seen any of the drills before.

“He doesn't think like normal people,” Hart said. “Someone could have taught him this stuff, but I'm guessing they didn't. I'm guessing he just made this stuff up.”

Stanton said that, indeed, he invented the drills on his own.

But he said he hasn't always been this dedicated. He possessed so much natural talent that he didn't have to be when he was younger.

“You get away with stuff more when you're younger, in high school,” Stanton said. “In high school, you'd rather just go play and go to McDonald's and hang out with friends.”

Stanton, who grew up in California, was drafted by the Marlins in the second round of the 2007 draft, behind current Suns teammate and third baseman Matt Dominguez. Scouts say that, defensively, Dominguez is major-league ready now.
He has struggled at the plate, though, and will take more time to develop.

Stanton is close to ready now.

Allison has been in professional awe of Stanton since the two were teammates last season at Single A Jupiter.
“He's very quiet, and that's the way he wants it,” Allison said. “He's the type of person that he's going to sit in his house, watch a movie, eat his dinner by himself or with a couple of teammates.”

`GREAT HUMAN BEING'

Although a previous drug addiction has all but destroyed the baseball career of Allison, the Marlins' first-round pick in 2003, he still has been able to enjoy Stanton's swift rise.

“I've been around a lot of human beings, good and bad, and I've been a good and bad human being myself,” said Allison, who has been sober for 3 ½ years. “So I know what a good person is. He's a great human being. And he's an even greater baseball player, and that's what he's going to be from here on out. And the good thing about that is, I don't think he knows it -- and I think that's awesome.”

Stanton would rather not talk about himself.

“I don't like being the center of attention,” he said. “I don't like the spotlight.”
But Stanton has dreams, just like everybody else. He said he's not growing antsy over when the Marlins might promote him.

“It's not my call,” Stanton said. “Everyone's goal is to make it to the big leagues. But I'm not going to say I'll be unhappy if I don't get moved up. If it happens it happens. If it doesn't, oh well.”
Few believe Stanton will remain in the minors much longer.

And when he finally joins the Marlins, look out.

“There just may not be any stopping him,” Allison said.

Said Hart: “He doesn't just want to be a Major League Baseball player. He wants to be the best.”

As he scans the action on the field in Jacksonville, Bragan remembers back to the great ballplayers who have come here before.
A-Rod. The Big Unit. All of them.

“He reminds me some of Bo Jackson, who came through this league,” Bragan said.

Last week, Bragan said he thought briefly of running an ad touting Stanton in the local newspaper -- “Come see Big Mike Stanton hit homers while you can” - but finally decided against.

“They're the chorus,” Bragan said, watching the Suns take their defensive positions. “He's the soloist. It's Mike Stanton and the Suns.”

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/1...#ixzz0nwQvC32G

[Bobbob1313]

.758 OPS over the last 10 days.

Time to panic?

[emkayseven]

hell yes it's time to panic

this means he's human which means that robots have figured out how to act human

[Ramp]

I like the fact he's "struggling" somewhat

[MiamiHomer]

Struggling with 8:12 BB:K and most of his out going by recaps of the games are fly outs.

[Bobbob1313]

I was being sarcastic.