Washington Nationals: Five storylines to watch as Marlins make their final trip to DC
By Drew Douglas
Giancarlo Stanton’s phenomenal power
As of today, August 28, Giancarlo Stanton has hit 50 home runs. To put this incredible stat into perspective, Mark Trumbo led the MLB with 47 last year. Perhaps even more impressive, Trumbo did that in nearly 150 more at-bats.
A year after being crowned the Home Run Derby champion, Stanton was handed an early exit due to an amazing round by Gary Sanchez. However, Stanton has made countless major league pitchers appear to be mere batting practice pitchers, putting on a Home Run Derby-esque show on a seemingly nightly basis.
Due to Stanton’s unbelievable power, he has become a hot topic of discussion. People have even begun to speculate if Stanton could reach 62 homers. 62 would place him seventh all-time, but only Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, and Sammy Sosa have hit more and the three have all allegedly used PED’s, so 61 is believed to be the clean record.
In addition to Stanton’s unbelievable power, he has been extremely consistent. Aaron Judge has the second-most homers in the MLB, with 37, but 30 of those were hit prior to the All-Star Break. Judge has suffered an extreme regression in the second half, but Stanton has continued to rake. Hitting as well as Stanton has for as long as he has is truly incredible, and he is quickly placing himself amongst elite company.
Stanton put on quite the show when the Marlins last visited Nationals Park, homering in three of their four early-August matchups. If he continues his incredible season and has a repeat performance at Nationals Park, his at-bats will definitely be something to keep an eye on throughout the series.