Productive destruction

By Adam Cancryn

Slugger Giancarlo Stanton made his name by hitting balls long and far, but he'll have to be more consistent for the Marlins to succeed.

As Giancarlo Stanton goes, so go the Miami Marlins. That's how it's been so far for the franchise and its 22-year-old star during a roller-coaster ride that has touched both extremes and yet still has plenty of season left for a few corkscrews and loops.

Miami began the year in a freefall, as did Stanton, the highly touted outfielder with a new name and what seemed to be host of new troubles at the plate. Coming off of an impressive sophomore campaign, he managed just one home run through April, a meek showing that accompanied a .247/.286/.342 split.

At the time, Stanton was not the only one suffering from a power outage, but his struggles were certainly among the more troubling. Veterans like Jose Reyes and Hanley Ramirez had proven in seasons past that they could break out of slumps, and it seemed only a matter of time before they returned to form. Marlins Park was built to their specifications, leaving them with a vast expanse of green on which to dump the doubles and triples that had made their careers up to this point.

Others off to a slow start were simply replaceable, and so their negative impact could be mitigated by similarly skilled bench players. First baseman Gaby Sanchez and outfielder Logan Morrison were among those, swapped out at times for the flavor of the day among bit contributors Greg Dobbs, Austin Kearns and Chris Coghlan. Sanchez later in the year would even be demoted, a significant but ultimately affordable step.

But Stanton was neither experienced nor expendable enough to paper over his early-season issues. He had excelled as a rookie and then blown through the so-called sophomore slump by hitting 34 home runs at the tender age of 21. That year, he led the team in at least five major offensive categories. Now, playing in a new park and perhaps up against pitchers armed with more detailed scouting reports, Stanton looked lost. He struck out 20 times in April, while managing just 18 hits. Over that same period, the Marlins went 8-14, the worst in the division.

Yet with each new month comes the reminder that, above all, the MLB season is long. Thirty days do not characterize an entire year, and even if it did, Stanton made sure to sever his ties to April as soon as possible.

On May 1, he blasted a home run, then did it again the next day. Two days later, he hit his fourth of the season and followed with his fifth less than 24 hours after that. In all, Stanton jacked 12 homers during the month, reestablishing himself as one of the game's most destructive young power hitters. Literally. He dinged one ball off the Marlins' home run sculpture in left-center, broke a panel on the team's new scoreboard with another, and dispatched one pitch to the Budweiser Balcony some 458 feet away from home plate, where it assaulted a group of beer-swilling onlookers.

Armed with a short, brutally efficient stroke, he spent the month hitting balls faster and further than the vast majority of the league. Eleven of Stanton's 12 May home runs exceeded the MLB's 103.5 mph average batted ball speed on home runs, including a 464-foot grand slam that peaked at a league-high 122.4 mph, according to ESPN Stats & Information Group. That, combined with his balcony shot three days later (114.8 mph), gave him two round trippers among the league's 15 longest home runs. He is the only player listed twice on that list.

Some great hitters are known for the distinctive sound that the ball makes off their bat. It's tough to say if that's the case with Stanton, because everyone is too busy trying to track his projectiles to much notice the sound that they made.



Apart from being a lengthy highlight reel for the Marlins, May demonstrated just how well Miami's lineup could work when Stanton is hitting. The Marlins finished the month 21-8, and went 11-2 when Stanton hit a home run. Other factors contributed to to the team's success, of course. Carlos Zambrano continued his brilliant run, relievers not named Heath Bell contributed a string of solid outings, and a multitude of hitters came up with timely extra-inning hits. But it's clear that Stanton is a crucial cog in the Marlins' lineup. He is the man that often must provide the final push for the speedy carousel around the bases that is Emilio Bonifacio, Reyes and Ramirez. Without him lasering balls into the gap and over the wall, the offense can become maddeningly inconsistent.

Or put more plainly, it can become the offense so far in June. This month, Stanton has cooled off, hitting just .243/.333/.405 over his last 10 games. And Miami is 4-7, including a stretch where it dropped six straight. After having pulled into first place on June 3, the Marlins slid back to third in the ultra-competitive NL East in a matter of days. May had been a blissful ascent, but the team is once again peering ahead at the potential for another stomach-turning drop.

To prevent that, Stanton will have to be the catalyst. It's a heavy burden to put on a 22-year-old, and one he arguably should not have to bear on a team filled with high-priced stars. But it's he who possesses the singular ability to alter the game night in and night out, to face a challenge and, with one short stroke, reverse its trajectory and send it — and the Marlins — soaring once again.

Adam Cancryn is an editor and co-founder of Began in '96. Earlier parts of the season-long series on the Marlins can be found here.