Mike Stanton may be the least known, least celebrated young star in baseball. The 21-year-old is second in the National League with 30 home runs and already has 52 for his career. It’s not just the quantity of home runs he’s hitting that’s impressive, but the distance of his blasts that’s drawing attention.
Mr. Giancarlo Cruz hit the third-longest home run of the season last week, a 474-foot shot according to Hit Tracker. He has the most “No Doubt” home runs of the season according to Hit Tracker, registering 12. “No Doubt” home runs are ones that travel at least 20 vertical feet over the fence and land 50 feet past the fence.
He’s not only receiving attention for his big blasts during games, but also for the ones he hits during batting practice.
Catcher John Buck says he’s cut his rounds short a few times to watch Stanton hit. Mike Cameron, a former Brewer, says Prince Fielder is the only other hitter he’s been around who can match Stanton’s power. Cameron added that Mark McGwire isn’t even in their class. Coach Joe Espada, who throws batting practice to the team, says Stanton has more power than Jose Canseco or McGwire.
Giancarlo is 6’5″ and 233 pounds. He has a large, thick frame and he’s muscular enough to line up as a tight end or defensive end in the NFL. He’s able to channel that strength into his hitting, and the result is some of the longest home runs in baseball. The scary thing is that he’s only 21 years old and still has room for growth.
