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.