Two years ago, I posited that Giancarlo Stanton was arguably having the greatest power season in MLB history. He promptly got hurt and l looked foolish (a hardly unfamiliar feeling). But here we are again in 2017 and the now-healthy Stanton is hitting bombs left and right. He’s homered in six straight games. He has 18 since the All-Star Break. Thoughts of breaking Barry Bonds‘ mark of 73 are still a bit outlandish, but becoming the first person since Sammy Sosa in 2001 is no doubt an attainable goal. With 44 games remaining, let’s map out how Giancarlo Stanton can keep booming his way into the rarefied air.
Expect August to continue to be great for Giancarlo Stanton. Only May has seen as many balls of his bat (49) reach the bleachers, and that will surely change within the week. If he wants to reach 60 he’ll need a huge August because September is by far his least productive month. Injuries have skewed that figure in recent seasons, but with Stanton, a potential trip to the 10-day DL is something you have to tentatively schedule at some point.
As is the way the schedule goes, the last few months are loaded with divisional games. Not surprisingly that is where Stanton does his best work. The Phillies (24), Nationals (32), and Mets (32) are the top three teams in giving up gopher balls to Giancarlo Stanton. He also gets a three game set in Colorado towards the end of the season. No National League team has been bludgeoned at a greater rate than the Rockies. He possesses a .359 average, 20 home runs, and 17 doubles in 48 career games versus Colorado. It should be mentioned that his biggest nemesis still remains on the docket as well. Milwaukee has held Giancarlo to a .172 average all-time with a .388 slugging percentage, both his lowest figures against National League opposition.
Giancarlo has plenty of teams left to devour, but even more so some familiar pitchers who’ve found themselves turning to watch one of their pitches fly 450 feet in the other direction. 14 players have served up 3+ home runs to Stanton in his career. He’s scheduled to face at least three of them in August: Matt Cain, Jacob deGrom, and Stephen Strasburg. He could face a fourth, Tanner Roark, by season’s end.
At 44 home runs as of this writing, Stanton needs a home run every 2.75 games to reach 60. In his last 35 games, he’s hitting one every 1.5 games. For July as a whole, the figure was a little over 2. In my eyes, the only thing keeping Giancarlo Stanton out of the 60 home run club is what some would call an act of God.
I don’t want to be a jinx again, but I really want Stanton to hit this milestone. It is important to me as a baseball fan to have players during this generation doing great things like this. The steroid era ruined many an argument for us younger fans against the steadfast old timers. A 60 home run season in 2017 might as well be an 80 home run campaign. I also want to see it happen because, with the way the game is trending, it may be the last time I get to.