Circling the Bases: Are Stanton's Gains For Real?

Circling the Bases
By Ray Flowers
May 29, 2012

Has Giancarlo Stanton arrived? I mean, how could a guy be on pace for 39 homers, 119 RBI, 95 runs an a .291 average not have arrived? Man do people have short memories. At the end of April Stanton was hitting .247 with one homer and nine RBI. He was lost, a bum, and people were panicking as if Loki was leading his Chitauri army against The Avengers (and yes, I'm aware my “geek factor” just had a 10-fold increase). Flip the calendar to May and Stanton appears to think he is Albert Pujols as he's hit .324 with 11 homers, 27 RBI, 22 runs an a 1.146 OPS in 27 games. So which guy is he? The answer is neither. The “true” Stanton is likely pretty close to the hitter who is batting .291 with 12 homers, 36 RBI and 29 runs scored this season. Stanton has seen his walk rate take a wee step back from last season, but that's also been accompanied by a lowe

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