The holidays came early for us baseball fans this weekend. Two way Japanese phenom Shohei Ohtani signed with the Los Angeles Angels, significantly strengthening their pitching and offense. Ohtani’s new teammate, Mike Trout, is getting married to fiancé Jessica Cox. Also, the New York Yankees have been reported as the winners of the Giancarlo Stanton sweepstakes, making the Yankees lineup look a lot like the 1927 Murders Row.
Tag: Stanton
2017 NL MVP Report
In a very crowded list of National League MVP candidates with players such as Nolan Arenado and JD Martinez being omitted, the final possible MVP candidate race is very tight. Marlins’ right fielder Giancarlo Stanton fell just one home run shy of the immortal 60 home run club, also picking up a league leading 132 RBIs along the way. Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon lead MLB in runs (137), hits (213), and triples (14) to go along with 37 home runs and 104 RBIs. Joey Votto completed the rare feat of playing every game of the 162 game season, collecting 147 walks and posting an insane .454 on base percentage. Paul Goldschmidt put up yet another consistently great season posting 36 home runs, 120 RBIs, 117 runs, and swiping 18 bags. The two main contenders are Joey Votto and Charlie Blackmon. Despite Blackmon leading the league in traditional categories, Votto’s dependability and outrageous ability to get on base makes him a lethal weapon for the Cincinatti Reds. Overall, Charlie Blackmon looks like the MVP front runner as his stats are a can’t miss with most traditional baseball fans.
2017 NL MVP Breakdown
Stats | Giancarlo Stanton | Paul Goldschmidt | Joey Votto | Charlie Blackmon |
Games | 159 | 155 | 162 | 159 |
At Bats | 597 | 558 | 559 | 644 |
Hits | 168 | 166 | 179 | 213 |
Doubles | 32 | 34 | 34 | 35 |
Triples | 0 | 3 | 1 | 14 |
Home Runs | 59 | 36 | 36 | 37 |
RBIs | 132 | 120 | 100 | 104 |
Runs | 123 | 117 | 106 | 137 |
Stolen Bases | 2 | 18 | 5 | 14 |
Walks | 85 | 94 | 134 | 65 |
Strikeouts | 163 | 147 | 83 | 135 |
Batting Average | .281 | .297 | .320 | .331 |
OBP | .376 | .404 | .454 | .399 |
Slugging | .631 | .563 | .578 | .601 |
OPS | 1.007 | .967 | 1.032 | 1.000 |
WAR | 8.8 | 6.9 | 9.6 | 6.3 |
All Star | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
This Week in Baseball
Giancarlo Stanton continues his rapid tear by smacking his 44 home run this season. He has homered in six straight games and has already set a Marlins’ franchise record. Another story line in National League East is Mets’ prospect Logan Taylor. He was attacked by a homeless man with a tire and a rock filled sock after the homeless man demanded his wallet. He needed lots of stitches on his head and the homeless man was taken into custody. Rockies’ pitcher Chad Bettis made his return from cancer and pitched seven innings of shutout ball. Superstar Bryce Harper was diagnosed with a deep bone bruise after slipping on a wet base during a game against the Giants.
Giancarlo Stanton’s Rapid Tear
It’s no surprise that Miami Marlins’ right fielder Giancarlo Stanton is on the greatest run of his career. Over his last ten games, Giancarlo has nine homers. Over the entire season, Stanton has 42 home runs to go along with 88 runs and 90 RBIs. He has tied Gary Sheffield in 1996 with the single season franchise home run total.
The Training Dilemma: Inside the Intense Training and Surgeries That Kills Our Players
It is the 21st century. Everybody desires to be the best at something. They need to be the biggest, the strongest, and the fastest. They need to be consistent, young, and energetic. These traits have transitioned not only from the real world, but the baseball kingdom. Take a look at Noah Syndergaard. He claimed to gain 17 pounds of muscle in the offseason so he could throw harder. As if 100 miles per hour wasn’t enough, he had to push himself to the next level. Now, he is currently on the disabled list with an ailing bicep and lat. Also note, the other four Mets’ starters have also had stints on the DL.
Giancarlo Stanton. Another human monster. Weighing in at over 230 pounds, he is the biggest position player in the MLB besides the Yankees’ Aaron Judge. Stanton has never played a full season since 2014, which was cut short when he took a pitch to the face. He has spent time on the shelf due to hand and wrist problems.
Players these days are getting hurt due to over working themselves. Back in the day, hurting yourself in baseball was never heard of. If you did end up hurting yourself, you played through it. Take Mickey Mantle for instance. Mantle dealt with injuries every season of his 18 year career. Despite dealing with constant pains, he was able to put together a great career, perhaps the greatest career for a switch hitter. He was also smoking and drinking at the same time, wrecking his body even more. If Mickey could play through it, why can’t today’s players work through injuries? The answer is simple: medical advances.
Ever since Tommy John underwent ground breaking surgery, the medical world has been rapidly progressing. Now, there are treatments for every thing. Draining fluids of joints, removing damaged ligaments, even taking out ribs to relieve pressure. It is no secret that some players abuse these procedures to increase draft stock. Some players in high school undergo Tommy John surgery to get it out of the way. What some of these people don’t seem to know is that these surgeries don’t leave you with a fresh ligament or elbow. In fact, they could weaken the body. The process for TJ surgery is to remove the damaged ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in the arm and replace it with a less used UCL from the wrist or other joint. As mentioned before, it might seem the human specimen has a fresh UCL, but they do indeed have a ligament performing a role it wasn’t created for.
When you put the over training factor into this mix, things get a whole lot worse. As shown in the Giancarlo Stanton/Noah Syndergaard point, players are training harder than ever. But now with these players having mix and match tendons and ligaments, the bodies can’t handle these. You can’t expect a wrist ligament to withstand the same pressure a elbow UCL has.It’s just bound for disaster. The reason why players are getting hurt so easily is now clearly exhibited. You just cannot have the players waking up at six in the morning to do workouts when they have the ligaments where there not supposed to be. If Major League Baseball wants to protect their players, they should put workout caps and surgery bans to limit injury. Besides, what’s a little decrease in velocity and home runs compared to people living their lives in pain and in casts?
Stanton Wins Home Run Derby
Last night, Marlin slugger Giancarlo Stanton won the 2016 Home Run Derby. Stanton hit 20 home runs to knock out the defending champion Todd Frazier. Stanton is the first Marlins’ player to ever win this event.
Giancarlo Stanton
Giancarlo is considered one of the best baseball players right now. Let’s now look into his current career.
Giancarlo Stanton is one of the greatest sluggers right now. He also attended in the 2014 Gillette Home Run Derby. He hit a home run which almost went out of the park. He was also one of the greatest fielders in both leagues. He makes incredible plays in his right field area. He also steals a base every so often. The Marlins were everything until the accident happened.
In 2014, Stanton came to bat like any regular time. Instead of crushing one, he got hit the face by a fastball instead. His face was bloody and so was the batters box. He also lost multiple teeth. He had to be taken of the field by the ambulance car. While he was being taken away, the grounds crew was covering the blood. This is what he looked like in the hospital. He would also be a candidate in the 2014 MVP honors.