Giancarlo Stanton

Giancarlo Cruz-Michael Stanton (born November 8, 1989), until 2012 known as Mike Stanton, is an American professional baseball designated hitter and outfielder for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Florida/Miami Marlins. Stanton stands 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m) tall and weighs 245 pounds (111 kg). He bats and throws right handed. Stanton is the Marlins' all-time home run leader and the only active player with over 450 home runs. Internationally, Stanton represented the United States.

Stanton is originally from the Greater Los Angeles region. He graduated from Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, before the Marlins selected him in the second round of the 2007 MLB draft. He made his MLB debut with the Marlins in 2010. Stanton led the National League in home runs in 2014. In November 2014, the Marlins signed Stanton to the richest total dollar value contract in team sports history at the time of the signing; the contract is worth $325 million over 13 years.

In 2017, Stanton led MLB in home runs (59), runs batted in (RBIs) (132), and slugging percentage (.631), winning the National League Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award. Following the 2017 season, Stanton was traded to the Yankees. A five-time MLB All-Star, Stanton has twice won both the NL Hank Aaron Award and outfield Silver Slugger Award after leading the league in home runs. In 2024, he earned American League Championship Series MVP honors to lift the Yankees to their first American League pennant since 2009.

Early life

Giancarlo Cruz-Michael Stanton was born in Panorama City, California. Stanton's father is of Irish descent and his mother is African-American with some small Puerto Rican descent. Stanton's maternal great-great-great-grandmother was Puerto Rican. Stanton's parents, Mike Stanton and Jacinta Gary, have been divorced since Stanton was eight years old. Stanton has a brother, Egidio "E.G." Moacir Gary, and a sister, Kyrice Valivia Stanton. He was raised in the Tujunga area of Los Angeles, and grew up a Los Angeles Dodgers fan. His mother named him after the actors Giancarlo Giannini and Giancarlo Esposito.

Stanton attended Verdugo Hills High School in Tujunga for two years. He transferred to Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks where he was a three-sport athlete. In addition to baseball and basketball, Stanton played wide receiver and cornerback for the football team. He had accepted a scholarship to play baseball for Tulane, and received offers from UCLA, UNLV and USC to play football.

Professional career

Draft and the minor leagues

The Florida Marlins selected Stanton in the second round, with the 76th overall selection, in the 2007 MLB draft. Rather than enroll in college, Stanton signed with the Marlins, receiving a $475,000 signing bonus.

Stanton began his professional career for the Gulf Coast League Marlins of the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League, but quickly advanced to the Jamestown Jammers of the Low-A New York–Penn League. After playing nine games for the Jammers, for whom he batted .067 on 2-for-30 hitting, he was promoted to the Greensboro Grasshoppers of the Single-A South Atlantic League. With Greensboro, Stanton hit 39 home runs, on a .293 batting average with 97 RBI and a .993 OPS. Stanton received an invitation to the 2009 Marlins' spring training. He won numerous post-season awards for his performance in the 2008 minor league season, and was placed at number 16 on Baseball America's top 100 prospects list.

Stanton began the 2009 season with the Jupiter Hammerheads of the High-A Florida State League, where he batted .294 with 12 home runs and 39 RBIs. This performance led to a promotion to the Jacksonville Suns of the Double-A Southern League. He was selected for the All-Star Futures Game. In the off-season, he was sent to the Arizona Fall League, for top MLB prospects. Before going down with an injury, he led the league with a .478 batting average. Baseball America declared him the number one prospect in the Marlins system, as well as being number 3 on John Manuel's of Baseball America, top 20 prospects in the minors.

In 52 games with the Suns in 2010, Stanton batted .311 with 21 home runs, 52 RBIs, and a 1.167 OPS. He struck out just nine more times than he walked (44). After a series against the Mississippi Braves in early May, Mississippi manager Phil Wellman told The Florida Times Union: "He looks like a 15-year-old playing on an 8-year-old's Little League team." On May 6, 2010, Stanton hit a home run against the Montgomery Biscuits that cleared the scoreboard in center field and traveled an estimated 500 to 550 feet (150 to 170 m).

Florida / Miami Marlins (2010–2017)

2010: Rookie season

On June 6, 2010, the Florida Marlins announced that Stanton would be called up to MLB, making his MLB debut on June 8. At 20 years, 212 days, he became the third youngest player in Marlins history, behind Édgar Rentería (19 years, 276 days) and Miguel Cabrera (20 years, 67 days). Stanton went 3-for-5 with two infield singles and scored twice in the debut.

Stanton's first MLB home run was a grand slam off of Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Matt Garza. He joined Jeff Conine, Chuck Carr, Quilvio Veras, Craig Counsell and Jeremy Hermida on the list of Marlins whose first homer came with the bases loaded. In addition, Stanton became the fourth player in the past 25 years to hit his first career grand slam before his 21st birthday along with Jose Reyes (2003), Andruw Jones (1997) and Alex Rodriguez (1996). On August 11, 2010, against the Washington Nationals, Stanton went 5-for-5 with four RBIs, two doubles and a home run. He became the second youngest player to collect five hits and four RBIs in a game, and the youngest to do it since 1935 (Phil Cavarretta, who was 19 years and 33 days old with the Chicago Cubs on August 21, 1935). Stanton also is just the second Marlin with five hits and four RBIs in the same game, joining Gary Sheffield, who did it on September 17, 1995, at Colorado.

Stanton's favorite MLB at-bat came on September 6, 2010, against Roy Oswalt in Philadelphia. Stanton thought he had struck out on a foul tip, but the catcher dropped the ball. On the next pitch, he hit a 435-foot home run. "That (home run) I really liked, because that's what made me grow," Stanton said. "I thought I struck out; I was a little flustered. You learn that when something's over with, you move on. I did that pretty quick right there."

For his rookie season, Stanton's home runs averaged a distance of 399.6 feet with average speed of 104.3 mph.

He was named an outfielder on Baseball America's 2010 All-Rookie Team. He was also named an outfielder on the 2010 Topps Major League Rookie All-Star Team.

2011

In 2011, Stanton battled through leg and eye injuries which kept him from being a consistent hitting threat in the Marlins lineup. He hit his first walk-off home run on July 6, 2011, against the Philadelphia Phillies. Stanton finished the 2011 season batting .262 with 34 home runs and 87 RBIs in 516 at-bats. According to HitTrackerOnline, Stanton belted 15 home runs, the most in the National League and second most in the major leagues behind José Bautista's 18. Stanton hit the longest home runs of the season by any player in 2011 at Citi Field (465 feet), Nationals Park (455 feet), Coors Field (475 feet), and Sun Life Stadium (466 feet). His average distance (416.6 feet) and off-bat speed (107.4 mph) made significant improvement in his sophomore season. Stanton finished 23rd in the National league MVP.

At the end of the season, Stanton had 56 career home runs before his 22nd birthday (which was in November), which matched Alex Rodriguez and was behind only Ken Griffey Jr. among players in the past 40 seasons.

2012: All-Star season

On May 21, 2012, Stanton hit a grand slam off Jamie Moyer that traveled 462 feet (141 m) with an exit velocity of 122.4 miles per hour (197.0 km/h), the fastest since ESPN's Home Run Tracker began tracking. The ball made contact with a scoreboard in the outfield which resulted in the panels hit getting knocked out momentarily. Moyer had not given up a grand slam since 2004.

On June 28, 2012, Stanton confirmed that he would play in the 2012 MLB All-Star Game and participate in the Home Run Derby. However, On July 7, Stanton left the game against the St. Louis Cardinals after experiencing knee soreness. The next day, Stanton had surgery on his knee and later missed both of the events. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list on July 14. On August 17, Stanton hit a 494-foot home run at Coors Field. The home run was his sixth home run at Coors Field, in as many games, dating back to 2011. The home run was the longest in MLB since 2009.

Stanton finished the 2012 season with career highs in home runs (37; second in the National League, behind only Ryan Braun), batting average (.290), on-base percentage (.361), and slugging percentage (.608) which led all of MLB. He was third in the NL in on-base plus slugging percentage (.969; behind Braun and Joey Votto).