Giancarlo Stanton

After playing just 41 games the prior two seasons, Stanton appeared in 139 last year, with only one IL stint for a sore quad. His production mimicked 2018, his first season in pinstripes, again crushing avgEV, Hard Hit% and Barrel%. His strikeout and walk rates were also within career norms. His runs and RBI were both low relative to his 35 homers. His OBP was within historical levels, suggesting his teammates just didn't knock him home enough. Stanton's .273 average was the same as his average with runners in scoring position, but his RBI were low due to a disproportionate number of solo shots. Stanton's production is stable and reliable, but his durability is still the elephant in the room. He missed just seven games from 2017-18, then played in just 19% from 2019-20. At least he qualifies in the outfield to begin the season for the first time since 2019. Stanton will produce. It's simply a matter of risk tolerance.

Of all the stats you can delve into to analyze Stanton's recent performance, one tells the story: 18.5%. That's the percentage of regular-season games that Stanton has played for the Yankees over the past two campaigns (41 out of 222), rendering him a massive bust for fantasy managers who banked on his tremendous power. Sure, the slugger still mashes when he's in the lineup -- he posted an 18.4% barrel rate and 51.0 Hard% last season -- but those numbers are meaningless if Stanton can't remain on the field. A dominant postseason run (six homers, 13 RBI in seven games) will no doubt add to the allure of drafting Stanton now that he's moved further down the board, and a permanent move to DH should in theory reduce his injury risk. The latter will also hamstring his fantasy eligibility, however, making it hard to justify a draft position inside the first eight rounds.

After two seasons of injury-free baseball, Stanton returned to his old ways, missing most of the season with major injuries to both his biceps and his knee. It is a waste of time to look at anything he did over 72 plate appearances, and even if we did, it was mostly a display the skills we've come to expect from the behemoth. The overall issue remains the same with him -- massive power to all fields with a propensity to be pitched around, destroy a baseball, or get himself out swinging at heat up an in over his hands which sets up the slider away. Stanton remains susceptible to breaking stuff away from righties, and he has developed a large split in his slugging percentage between righties and lefties. In that stadium, with that lineup, the health is the only concern here. We have seen Stanton struggle with a variety of injuries and he is only now 30 years old. Set your expectations at 130 games played.

Hopes were sky high for Stanton coming off his monster 59-homer campaign and following his arrival to the Bronx. He didn't take full advantage of the home park in New York, slashing just .229/.311/.468 at Yankee Stadium compared to .300/.374/.547 on the road. In the end, the numbers were strong, but those who spent a first-round pick on Stanton took a slight loss. His strikeout rate returned to pre-2017 levels (29.9%) as he pressed at times and chased more pitches. Of course, when he did make contact, Stanton blistered the ball, finishing top five in average exit velocity per Statcast. Between the outfield and DH, Stanton will continue to play every day for the Yankees, and he should benefit from a full, healthy season from Aaron Judge. If drafters have soured on Stanton, pounce, because the injury-prone narrative is out the window at this point. This is an elite slugger in an ideal setup.

Stanton's highlight-reel blasts and career 13.4 HR/AB rate have long made him a chic early-round fantasy pick, with owners willing to bet on the unmatched power he could bring over a full season of good health. That gamble paid massive dividends in 2017 with the oft-injured outfielder, who hadn't played more than 125 games in five of his previous seven campaigns, avoiding the DL entirely and swatting an MLB-best 59 homers. Stanton also capitalized on the improved talent around him in the Miami lineup to compile 132 RBI and 123 runs, placing him first and third, respectively, in baseball. A six-point drop in strikeout percentage (to 23.6 percent) also offered optimism that the .281 batting average he submitted last season may be sustainable. Although Stanton's injury history makes him a riskier investment than other stars, he'll move into a much more hitter-friendly environment for his home games and benefit from a deep supporting cast in the lineup around him in 2018 and beyond after he was traded to the Yankees in December.

Stanton recorded the five hardest hit balls of the 2016 season as measured by Statcast, finishing behind only Nelson Cruz in average exit velocity. Unfortunately, this didn't translate into the usual bang as Stanton slugged .489, the second lowest mark of his career. As usual, health played a part as Stanton missed time due to rib soreness, hip issues and a groin injury that was supposed to end his season in mid-August. However, he returned for most of September, albeit ineffectively, going 6-for-33 with two long balls. Contact remained an issue as Stanton whiffed at a 30 percent clip for the second straight season. Low contact means reliance on BABIP to sport a decent average, and Stanton's BABIP dropped to a career-low mark, yielding his worst-ever average and OBP. The optimist will use this to snag Stanton at a lower cost than the past several years, while the pessimist cites 2016 as affirmation that Stanton's too risky at such a high cost.

Stanton missed 88 games in 2015, but still managed to club 27 home runs and knock in 67 runs in just 318 plate appearances, earning as much as full-time starters like Lucas Duda, Carlos Santana and Pedro Alvarez. And despite missing half the season, Stanton hit four home runs of at least 460 feet, twice as many as the next best hitters. Stanton now has 181 home runs since entering the major leagues in 2010 despite missing an average of 47 games per season. Before the injury, Stanton was posting his best raw power numbers of his career. His .606 slugging percentage was just two points off a career high, and his .341 ISO (slugging percentage minus batting average) was a career high by over 20 points. Stanton is the premier power hitter in the game when healthy; if he can stay on the field, he should challenge 40 home runs.

Following a season in which Stanton set or tied career-best marks in home runs, RBI, walks, stolen bases, runs scored and on-base percentage, the Marlins decide to lock up their 25-year-old franchise slugger with the largest contract ever handed to a baseball player. Stanton inked a 13-year, $325 million pact to stay in South Florida through his 38th birthday and will attempt to justify that investment immediately by providing a sufficient encore to the performance that landed him a second-place finish in the National League MVP voting in 2014. Stanton's season ended on a scary note, as he missed the final two weeks after getting hit by a pitch in the face and suffering multiple fractures. He is expected to be fully recovered well ahead of spring training. Stanton offers strong defense in right field while also delivering immense power and run production and showing continual advancement in his offensive game that now includes above excellent run totals and double-digit steal potential.

A pitiful April (.227/.341/.387 in 20 games) followed by a six-week stint on the disabled list with a hamstring injury frustrated Stanton over the first half of the season, but the powerful outfielder got back on track down the stretch, posting a .272/.392/.558 line with 11 home runs over his final 41 games. Though 2013 will go down as a disappointment in the eyes of some, Stanton managed to put up a career-best 14.7 percent walk rate over 504 plate appearances, and his strikeout rate, contact rate and flyball percentage all remained in line with his career norms. Stanton sits with an impressive 117 home runs in his first four major league seasons -- an average of 39 long balls per 162 games played -- and at 24 years old, the 6-foot-6 slugger simply needs to stay on the field to remain a favorite for the NL home run crown. It doesn't hurt that he should also chip in excellent run production (thanks to the walk rate) regardless of who surrounds him in the lineup.

The power is no surprise at this point as Stanton mashed 37 long balls in just 123 games in 2012, giving him 93 over his first 373 major league contests. Stanton's true upside was put on display when he posted a .290 batting average over 449 at-bats last season. While his walk rate fell back a bit, Stanton was able to raise his OPS by 76 points to .969 in 2012, trailing only Miguel Cabrera and Ryan Braun in that category had he gained enough plate appearances to qualify. With a knee injury that required a midseason scope seemingly in his rear-view mirror, Stanton will set his sights on his first 40-homer season in 2013 as one of the league's premier power hitters.

While he didn't quite put up historic homer totals in his first full big league season, Stanton still smashed 34 bombs (many of the ICBM variety... the kid's got as much raw power as anyone in the game) and made major strides with his walk rate as a 21-year-old. He strikes out too much to be a reliable batting average supplier but figures to be an annual threat for 40-plus jacks. With Jose Reyes in town ahead of him in the batting order and a hopeful rebound from Hanley Ramirez, not to mention his own fierce work ethic, Stanton's first 100-RBI season should be well within reach in 2012.

Starting Stanton off in Double-A fooled no one but his arbitration clock, but as he had done the season before when making the jump from High-A to Double-A Stanton struggled after his promotion to the majors last season. A big finish (.312/.370/.578 in September/October) gave him entirely respectable numbers as a rookie, and those numbers look even better when you consider he was only 20 years old. The kid has thunderous, once-in-a-generation power that makes even his batting practice sessions a spectacle, and given his ferocious drive to improve we wouldn't bet against Stanton joining Eddie Mathews and Mel Ott as the only members of the "40 HR season as a 21-year-old" club.

After making a mockery of the power-suppressing ballparks of the Florida State League (12 home runs in 180 at-bats) Stanton got an early promotion to Double-A and finally hit a pro level he couldn't master right away. Considering that he was only 19 years old though, and that his bat came back to life at the end of the year (including a monster .478/.538/.609 line in a brief stint in the AFL this offseason), his timetable to the majors hasn't been affected at all. The strikeouts will probably keep him from being anything close to a .290 hitter in the big leagues, but Stanton's power is more than legitimate, and plenty of players have led their league in home runs with lesser batting averages. A decent showing at Triple-A this season will probably earn him a September callup, and a shot at the right field job with the Marlins in 2011.

The 2007 second round pick (not to be confused with quintessential journeyman reliever Mike Stanton) showed off all his strengths and weaknesses at Low-A last year, hitting for big-time power but striking out more often than anybody would like to see. His walk rate showed improvement as the season wore on, but that could be as much due to Sally League pitchers growing tired of straining their necks watching him hit their offerings over the fence as it was due to any skill growth on Stanton's part. He put himself on the prospect map in 2008, but now he needs to solidify his gains before he'll move into the upper echelons.