Yesterday, the Miami Marlins made a few roster moves: Reinstated LHP Brandon Liebrandt, Brian Moran, and RHP Drew Steckenrider from the 60-day IL and outrighted them to Triple-A Wichita. Drew Steckenrider and Brian Moran both elected free agency.

Brandon Liebrandt’s season ended after suffering an elbow injury. Liebrandt had five starts out of the pen this year, where he had an ERA of 2.00, a FIP of 4.86, and an xFip of 7.43. He had struggled at time walking batters but had a solid few games in his rookie campaign before his injury.

Brian Moran spent his 2020 season with the Blue Jays and Marlins. Between both teams, he had 7 appearances and amassed an ERA of 9.64. Moran struggled with Miami this year before his he had a season-ending injury to his kneecap. Moran made his MLB Debut with the Marlins back in 2019, where he appeared in 10 games and had an ERA of 4.26, a FIP of 4.00, and an xFiP of 3.52.

Drew Steckenrider has been apart of the Marlins origination for a while now, but has suffered quite a lot of injuries in his career. in 2013, he had Tommy John Surgery in May after only a short sample with the Greensboro Grasshoppers. Steckenrider made his MLB Debut on May 23, 2017, after David Phelps was placed on the bereavement list. He went up and down a few times before securing a role with the club. In 37 appearances, he had a record of 1-1 as well as an ERA of 2.34, a FIP of 3.10, and an xFIP of 3.14. He would also pick up his first career save.

Steckenrider had a strong 2018 with Miami, where he would appear in 71 games and accumulate a record of 4-4 as well as 5 saves. He would end the season with an ERA of 3.90 before being outrighted to AAA.

Steckenrider struggled in 2019 before his season ended with right elbow inflammation. He made 15 appearances with an ERA of 6.28. He was activated off the IL at the end of the season. He would make a few spring training appearances before being placed on the IL again with right triceps tendinitis.

This morning, the Miami Marlins announced that they have officially exercised Starling Marte’s option. This is no surprise after Marte’s help in Miami’s playoff push.

The Marlins acquired Marte at the deadline and sent Caleb Smith, Humberto Mejia, and Julio Frias over to the Diamondbacks in the trade. As of right now, Starling Marte is set to be the highest-paid Marlins player.

Starling Marte started off slow in Miami, but his role increased over the span of the season. Marte had a big game in Game 1 against the Cubs, where he would go 2-for-4 before being hit in the wrist which ended his season.

Marte ended his season with a line of .281/.340/.430 with over 250 plate appearances between the Marlins and Diamondbacks. He also had a wOBA of .333 and wRC+ of 109. The 32-year-old looks to keep up the hard work entering the 2021 season.

The shortened 2020 season proved to be favorable for the Marlins as they made the playoffs for the first time since 2003. Looking into the 2020-2021 free agency, there are some big-name free agents, including closer Ken Giles. Ken Giles had Tommy John Surgery back on October 1st, which was a big blow to Toronto as his contract has now expired. Gile’s status for the 2021 season is one that requires full recovery, but the young Marlins core could use this great bullpen arm to add to their fairly strong bullpen as they look to contend for the future.

Ken Giles was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 7th round of the 2011 MLB Draft. Giles made his MLB Debut in 2014 and had two of his bests season in Philadelphia. He had a strong rookie campaign with an ERA of 1.18, a FIP of 1.34, xFIP of 2.03, and a War of 1.8. He didn’t become a closer, however, until 2015, where he would collect 15 saves. Giles did not become a main closer until 2017, where he recorded 34 saves with the Houston Astros.

Giles would get traded out to Toronto, where he has spent the last few seasons. In 2019, Giles played in 53 games with the Blue Jays and recorded an ERA of 1.87, a FIP of 2.27, and xFIP of 2.73, and a WAR of 1.8. He had a 14.09 K/9 as well as a 2.89 BB/9, which was one of the lowest BB/9s of his career. Gile’s 2020 was a short one due to having Tommy John Surgery. He struggled in his four appertaining, massing an ERA of 9.82.

These two photos above show 1) his pitch distribution between the fastball and slider combo that he effectively institutes and 2) where he ranks in the MLB Percentile. Since 2020 was not a real show of his talent, 2019 shows how well he was. He throws a commanding fastball that can touch anywhere from as low as 94 to as high 101-102 mph. His fastball averages around 97-99 mph. His slider is a super effective pitch as it averages around 87-89 mph, a dropoff from the fastball. Giles ranked great in xEra, xBA, xSLG, K %, Whiff %, xwOba, and fastball velocity. Giles is a really great package among these stats.

The offseason could be a big one if Miami could land a few top free agents, but one of the big ones to consider for the future is Giles. Seeing that he recovers 100%, he could add a veteran presence, great numbers, and a nasty fastball/slider combination to the Marlins bullpen.

This morning, the Marlins announced that they are moving on from 18-year President of Baseball Operations Michael Hill. There were talks about a contract extension but eventually, they decided to part ways.

Michael Hill’s contract was set to expire after the 2020 campaign so this was not a firing. Hill was one of the few left that was from the Loria era. This is a surprise to many Marlins fans after the Marlins returned to the playoffs for the first time since 2003.

Hill served as the assistant general manager in 2007 which would lead to his position of operations. His decision making has brought in a bunch of young talent for Miami, that showed it’s paying off in the Marlins 2020 campaign.

Michael Hill is still relatively young and could land another job in the near future. There are teams such as Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and the LA Angels who could need a new President of Baseball Operations or even as a General Manager.

This move is surprising but makes sense as Jeter was probably eyeing someone to take over the spot in the near future. Jeter has already announced this morning that Director of Player Personnel Dan Greenlee has been promoted to assistant general manager after the Hill departure. It will be a fun few months to see who Jeter picks to replace the long time Michael Hill.

A little over a week ago, the Miami Marlins started a crazy 7 game series over a 5-day span against the Philadelphia Phillies. Miami and Philadelphia would make history as it is the majors’ longest series in the regular season in 53 years. It included two doubleheaders and three makeup games. Miami would go on to win five out of the seven and move into second place. Let’s dive deeper into the series, game by game.

Game 1: September 10th, 2020. Marlins win 7-6. Sandy Alcantara got the start in game 1 and would go on to pitch 6 strong innings. The defense struggled this game which cost 3 runs not counted towards Sandy’s final line. Yimi Garcia would get the win in the 9th. Starling Marte was a big help to the offense, having an RBI Double in the bottom of the first and a 3 run RBI double in the bottom of the eight that would ultimately tie the game. Jorge Alfaro would hit a walk-off single and Miami would take Game 1 from the Phillies.

Game 2: September 11th, 2020. (Game 1 of Doubleheader) Phillies win 11-0. Aaron Nola would get the start for the Phillies in Game 1 of the doubleheader against the young Trevor Rogers. Trevor Rogers struggled early on and would only last 3 innings as he would allow 8 earned runs and 9 in total. He did manage to strike out 5. Robert Duggar played a mop-up roll and finished off the last four and would allow only two runs. The offense was held scoreless as Aaron Nola pitched a gem, allowing three hits and struck out 10 Marlins. Philadelphia would take game 1 of the doubleheader by a landslide.

Game 3: September 11th, 2020. (Game 2 of Doubleheader) Marlins win 5-3. The young Daniel Castano would get the start for Game 2 of the doubleheader against a Philadelphia team playing a bullpen game. Castano looked good through 3.2 innings, before being replaced by James Hoyt who would get the win. Yimi Garcia would get the save after Brandon Kintzler told Mattingly he was having some issues. This was a big game for Lewis Brinson, who hit a solo home run off of Heath Hembree, to continue his hot streak. The rest of the offense would produce as Miami went on to win 5-3.

Game 4: September 12th, 2020. Phillies win 12-6. Jose Urena would get his second start after coming off the Covid IL against the young Spencer Howard. Urena struggled, allowing 5 earned runs and would ultimately take the loss. Josh A. Smith also struggled, allowing 5 earned. A positive note was Johan Quezada making his debut and pitching a scoreless inning. Brian Anderson and Jesus Aguilar both went deep, Brinson had an RBI Double, and Corey Dickerson would have an RBI Single as the offense wouldn’t produce enough runs to win Game 4. Phillies would role past with a 12-6 victory.

Game 5: September 13th, 2020. (Game 1 of Doubleheader) Marlins win 2-1. This was one of the biggest games of the series as Sixto Sanchez would make his first start against his former club. He did not disappoint. Sixto threw his first complete game, going the full 7 and allowing only 3 hits, 1 earned run, 3 walks, and 4 strikeouts. Corey Dickerson and Starling Marte would both drive in runs as Miami would go on to win game 1 of the doubleheader.

Game 6: September 13th, 2020. (Game 2 of Doubleheader) Marlins win 8-1. The Marlins would debut another one of the young pitching stars in Game 2 of the doubleheader. The Marlins called upon their #7 Prospect Braxton Garrett, who did not disappoint. In his MLB Debut, he would pitch 5 innings, allowing 3 hits, 1 earned run, 2 walks, and 4 strikeouts. He would also pick up his first career win. The offense would give Garrett the run support, highlighted by a Chad Wallach home run in the bottom of the sixth. Miami rolled past Philadelphia for an 8-1 victory.

Game 7: September 14th, 2020. Marlins win 6-1. Pablo Lopez came in looking for a bounce-back start against Vince Velasquez. Lopez looked back in dominant form, going 7 innings, allowing 3 hits, 1 earned, and striking out 6. This was the start Pablo was looking for. The Marlins offense continued to shine, highlighted by 2 home runs thanks to Miguel Rojas and Starling Marte. Marlins would win and take 5 of 7 from the Phillies.

The Marlins are currently in 2nd place with a 26-24 record with 10 important games left. The Marlins are looking to make it back to the postseason for the first time since 2003.

The Miami Marlins were not the team everyone would expect to be 7-3 in their first 10 games. Miami picked up big names in the fall and had a great spring to which everyone called a fluke. Miami is now trying to prove the haters wrong.

Series Overview #1: Opening Weekend Marlins @ Phillies. Game 1 Score: 5-2 Marlins Sandy Alcantara earned his first win of the season after pitching a strong 6.2 innings allowing 1 earned and striking out 7. Miami went in on Philadelphia’s ace Aaron Nola who allowed 4 earned runs. Jesus Aguilar made himself comfortable in his first game of the season hitting a 2 run blast to help in the 5-2 victory. The bullpen came in, closed it out, and Brandon Kintzler picked up his first save as a Marlin. Game 2 Score: 7-1 Phillies Caleb Smith came out the gate struggling allowing 6 walks in only 3 innings of work. He managed to only allow 1 run. The bullpen struggled this game as Vesia allowed 2 earned and earned the loss and Ryne Stanek allowed 3 earned. Stephen Tarpley allowed a solo shot. Miguel Rojas was the lone man this game and drove in the only run. Game 3 Score: 11-6 Marlins Robert Duggar got the start after Jose Urena was scratched and you could tell he was struggling early on. in 3.1 innings, he allowed 6 hits, 5 runs, and which 4 were earned. The pen came in though and only allowed 1 run. Stephen Tarpley would pick up the win. Despite the bad start from Duggar the offense, especially Miguel Rojas, came to play. Miguel Rojas was a double shy from the cycle but drove in four runs this game. Brian Anderson, Jesus Aguilar, and Corey Dickerson also went deep in this game. The Marlins would take the series 2-1.

After this game, Miami would have multiple positive tests that put the MLB season in a scare. Miami, however, went right to work signing pen arms and batters to make up for all their Covid-19 losses. No one would expect the Marlins to do what they did over the next seven games.

Series Overview #2: Baltimore Orioles Vs Miami Marlins Game 1 Score: 4-0 Marlins Pablo Lopez came out slinging after being stuck in a hotel for a little over a week. In 5 innings of work, he allowed 2 hits and struck out 7 (tied for career-high). The bullpen was lights out this game, allowing only 1 hit. Cervelli and Aguilar both hit solo bombs to help the 4-0 victory. Game 2 (Doubleheader Game 1) Score: 1-0 Marlins Elieser Hernandez got the start for Game 1 of the doubleheader and proved to be dominant. in 4.1 innings of work, he allowed 2 hits, a walk, and struck out 5. His impressive spring helped him stay dominant in his first start of the season. The newly acquired Nick Vincent picked up the win and Brandon Kintzler picked up his 2nd save of the year. Brian Anderson was the whole offense in game 1 after hitting a solo shot off of Cobb. Game 3 (Doubleheader Game 2) Score: 2-1 Marlins This was strictly a bullpen game for Miami as the MLB implemented the 7 inning doubleheader rule. Josh Smith got the bullpen start and pitched 2 innings. Brian Moran picked up his first win and Justin Shafer ended the shutout streak. Stephen Tarpley went on to pick up his first save of the season. Jesus Aguilar and Brian Anderson both had RBI singles in this game and was enough offense to get the win. Game 4 Score: 8-7 Marlins This was a big game going in as Don Mattingly was looking for his 282nd win to become the winningest manager in the Marlins franchise. His team did not disappoint. Jordan Yamamoto was recalled to make his first of the season and had some early struggles. in 4 innings, he allowed 6 hits and 4 earned but did manage to strike out 4. Jorge Guzman came in after to make his MLB debut and had a great first inning of work but would allow back to back solo home runs. The newly acquired Mike Morin would pitch 2 clean innings and earn his first victory as a Marlin. Brandon Kintzler gave Miami a scare in the 9th after allowing a run but would end up picking up his 3rd save of the season. The offense this game would produce 8 runs after only allowing 3 in two games the day before. What stood out most was Jonathan Villar hitting a home run on the first pitch of the game against his former squad.

The Marlins would sweep the Orioles improving to 6-1 on the short season. They would roll into New York looking to extend the win streak to 6 games. The Marlins would also call up 2 starters from Jupiter to make their major league debuts.

Series Overview #3: Marlins @ Mets Game 1 Score: 4-3 Marlins Hours before the game, Marlin fans were wondering which prospect would be the one to make his debut. It was none other than the 23-year-old Humberto Mejia. He did not disappoint as in 2.1 innings, he allowed 2 hits, a solo home run, 2 walks, but struck out 6 batters! Shafer and Tarpley both pitched 2 clean innings and Tarpley would end up picking up his 2nd win of the season. The 7th and 8th roll around and the series looks to be taking a turn. James Hoyt and Richard Bleier both got some bad calls from the umpire that allowed 2 runs. Nick Vincent came in and would get the 1.2 inning save. Cervelli was the main source of runs as he hit a 3 run home run in the 2nd inning of the game. Brian Anderson also hit an RBI single and that was enough offense to pick up the win and extend the winning streak to 6. Game 2 Score: 8-4 Mets The Marlins had another MLB debut and this time it was the 25-year-old Daniel Castano. Despite his statline in his debut, he did not have the best help from the umpires, a reoccurring theme in this series. Castano’s debut statline: 4.1 innings, 5 hits, 5 runs, 4 earned runs, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts. The bullpen struggled a bit but James Hoyt and the famous switch-pitcher Pat Venditte looked good in the loss. the offense put up runs but not enough in this one. Logan Forsythe picked up a solo home run, Monte Harrison hit a 2 RBI single, and Brian Anderson had an RBI single himself. The Marlins would snap their 6 game win streak. Game 3 Score: 4-2 Mets The Marlins would have a tough time entering this game as they were set to face back to back NL CY Young Winner Jacob deGrom. The pitching matchup was one to watch, Pablo Lopez, the first Marlin to make his second start this season, against Jacob deGrom. From the first inning, all fans knew that the umpiring crew was going to be another horrible one once again. Despite only throwing 80 pitches, Pablo Lopez had a great line against the ace Degrom: 5 innings, 5 hits, 3 runs, 2 earned, 4 walks, and 4 strikeouts. Stephen Tarley struggled but Moran and Morin both looked good out the pen. The Marlins drove deGrom’s pitch count up early but left a bunch of runners in scoring position this game. Jesus Aguilar picked up his team-leading 4th home run off deGrom which was all the offense in this game. This game was not only bad from the umpiring crew, but the Marlins really struggled on defense which helped them lose back-to-back games for the first time this season.

Despite having more than half the team having Covid-19, veterans and new signings have really stepped up for Miami. Jesus Aguilar is having a great bounce-back season so far, batting .306/.341/.694 with 4 home runs and 8 RBI’s. He has a team-leading 11 hits and team-leading OPS of 1.036 (counting everyday players). Brian Anderson is staying hot, batting .303/.410/.545. His .410 is the team leading OBP and leads all Marlins in RBI’s with 9. The power bat of Corey Dickerson has not looked the worse either, batting .229/.289/.371 with 8 hits, 1 home run, 1 RBI, and an OBS of .661. Despite 11 K’s, Jonathan Villar still has 8 hits, 1 home run, 4 RBI’s, and an OPS of .537. Villar looks to get out of his slump and keep performing as he knows how to!

One of the big stories to Miami’s success has been the pitching. Stephen Tarpley has shown he can go long innings as he has 2 wins in 5.1 innings with a high 3.38 ERA. Brandon Kintzler has looked great coming in as the closer, as he leads the team with 3 saves and an ERA of 1.80 ERA. Mike Morin, James Hoyt, and Josh A. Smith have also looked great and look to keep helping in this strong pen. Pablo Lopez looks to stay dominant as he holds a 1.80 ERA in 2 starts and chew innings while the main chunk of Marlin starters recover from Covid-19.

The Miami Marlins continued their pitcher heavy draft by selecting right-handed pitcher Kyle Nicolas out of Ball State University. Nicolas is a 21-year-old who stands at 6’4 and weighed in at 225 pounds.

Kyle Nicolas attended Jackson High School where he helped lead the Polar Bears to a 30-2 record as a senior. They would also go onto win state that season. In his senior year, we had a record of 8-0 with an ERA of .50 over 56 innings. He also had 78 strikeouts. His accolades in High School included: Ohio Player of the Year, first-team all-state, and Federal League Co-Player of the year.

In 2018, he pitched in 15 games and 10 of them were starts on the mound. He went on to have a 2-4 record over 57 innings and had an ERA of 5.21. He picked up his first college win on February 24.

In 2019, he appeared more as a bullpen arm than a starter. In 24 games, he only started 6 but ended with a record of 2-2 over 55.1 innings. His ERA was 6.02 which was high, but the team still went 18-6 in games he pitched.

His Junior season was cut short due to Covid-19, but he still had 4 strong starts. In 23 innings pitched, he would hold a 0-1 record where he ended with an ERA of 2.74 and struck out 37 batters.

Nicolas has a fastball/slider combination but has shown he can throw a changeup. His fastball hit 97 in the Cape Cod League in 2019, but his fastball typically ranges between 93-96 mph. His slider has a lot of bite to it and ranges between 85-87 mph.

The real question for the Marlins is whether they will use him as a starter or reliever. He has had troubles of keeping the ball in the zone but will look to keep improving under the Marlins pitching staff.

The Miami Marlins stuck with pitching in day 2 of the draft as they drafted Daxton Fulton with their second-round pick. Daxton Fulton stands at 6’6 and weighed in at 220 pounds. He attended Mustang High School and he decided to commit to the University of Oklahoma with two of his high school teammates. He is a left-handed pitcher who is currently only 18 years old.

Daxton Fulton played in the Perfect Game tournament and surely did not disappoint. He was said to be lights out at the PG National as well as PG All American.

Fulton had his high school career cut short after suffering an elbow injury which forced him to have Tommy John surgery. He was projected to go first round but the injury cut him back.

Fulton has a fastball that steady’s in the low 90’s and topped out at 93 mph at the All American game. His slider is believed to be his go-to pitch as it has great action to where he feels confident to sometimes double or triple up on it. He also has a changeup that he is still working to develop, however, it still looks as if he has great command to it.

Fulton now has a big decision: sign with the Marlins or tell Oklahoma he will be attending this fall. The Marlins offered him more money so he would sign and DJ Svihlik is confident that he will sign and become a Miami Marlin.

The Marlins were expected in almost every Mock Draft to draft left-handed pitcher Asa Lacy out of Texas A&M. When the third pick was called, Asa Lacy and Austin Martin were still on the board. The third pick was a surprise to most as the Marlins selected right-handed pitcher Max Meyer out of Minnesota.

Max Meyer was born to a family where his dad was a football star and his mom played soccer at St. Olaf College. Meyer played four years at Woodbury High School and started three years as a pitcher and infielder. At this time, he was the number 2 ranked player in Minnesota and number 114 nationally by Prep Baseball Report. During his time in high school, he earned achievements such as All-State Selection twice, All-Selection honoree three times, and landed on an All-State Tournament team for the state of Minnesota. While playing baseball, he also played hockey for three years. His hard work led to him being drafted in the 34th round of the 2017 MLB Draft. Instead of signing right out of high school, he decided to attend the University of Minnesota.

Max Meyer entered his freshman year in more of a reliever role. he played twenty-six games and would tie the program record of 16 saves in a season. He went on his freshman season to post a record of 2-3 with a 2.27 ERA in 43.2 innings. He also posted 54 strikeouts and a WHIP of .870. A few highlights in his freshman year included: Big Ten Freshman of the Week, a save in his collegiate debut, and struck out 6 batters in the three shutout innings against UCLA in the NCAA Regional.

He entered his sophomore year in more of a starter role but did play a few games in relief. In 11 starts, he posted a record of 5-3 with a 2.11 ERA in 76.2 innings. He managed to have two saves while striking out a team-best 87 batters. He also got to play out in the field and played in 35 games in which 30 he started. He had a line of .256/.323/.314 with one home run, 12 RBI’s, and 15 runs scored. A few highlights from his sophomore year included: All-Big Ten selection, made his 1st career start on the mound against Oregon, and struck out a team season-high 12 batters against Indiana.

Meyer’s junior year was cut short like everyone else’s. Despite the short season, Meyer put up some great numbers. In just four starts, he posted a 3-1 record with a team-low 1.95 ERA and a team-high 46 strikeouts. He was fifth in the nation in strikeouts and led all of the Big Ten. He also played 11 games in the field. He had a line of .185/.214/.222 with four RBI’s and a stolen base. A few highlights in his short junior year included: striking out 10 batters against TCU, threw his first complete game collecting 14 strikeouts against North Carolina, struck out 15 batters (career-best and Gopher best since Glen Perkins) against Utah.

The 6 foot, 185-pound pitcher/outfielder has a pitch mix that could benefit him in the future. He has a mid 90s fastball that has topped 101 mph and has a nasty slider that could be one of the best in his class. He also has a changeup but does not rely on it as much as the fastball/slider mix. Marlins director of amateur scouting DJ Svihlik told the media last night that Max Meyer is “The most athletic college pitcher in the draft with the most electric stuff. And he is just about Major League ready.”

The Marlins have a stacked farm system of pitchers already, and Meyer just adds to that. Meyer has a shot to land in the top 10 prospects along with 5 other pitching prospects in the system. Even though most fans saw the Marlins going for Asa Lacy, Max Meyer looks like he could be one of the pitchers for the future in the Marlins rotation.

It was 2016. Giancarlo Stanton did not make the all-star game but partook in the 2016 Home Run Derby. He only played n 119 games and missed 22 games due to a grade 2 hamstring strain. Despite the injuries, he did hit a 504-foot home run, the longest one in the majors that season.

Fast forward to 2017 and Giancarlo Stanton did not disappoint. In the first 8 games, he collected 9 hits and 2 home runs, both coming in a 5-4 loss against the Mets.

Giancarlo started out the month of April with 23 hits and 7 home runs. Some may have thought that he would just have a mediocre season but little do they know, Stanton would just keep heating up.

By the end of the All-Star break, Stanton posted some great numbers. He batted .277/.360/.572 along with having 26 home runs, leading all NL players. These numbers earned him his fourth all-star selection and an invite to the Home Run Derby. Stanton would lose in the first round of the Derby by one home run to Yankees Catcher and current teammate Gary Sanchez.

Stanton came off the break red hot. In the month of August, he earned himself one for the record books. He started out by being awarded the Player of the Week award after hitting 6 home runs having 11 RBI’s while slugging 1.037 and an OPS of 1.416. A day after winning the award, Stanton would hit his 43rd home run and pass Gary Sheffield to become the Marlins all-time home run record holder. He also set a record the same day for hitting a home run in 5 consecutive days. On August 27th, Stanton would hit his 50th home run and become the first player too since Chris Davis. Stanton would also join five other players to reach 50 home runs by the end of August. Two days later Stanton would tie Rudy York with 18 home runs in a single month. His dominant month of August earned him the Player of the Month Award after having 18 home runs along with 37 RBI’s and a slugging percentage of .899.

September rolled around and Stanton was looking to hit the 60 home run mark. Stanton hit 2 home runs of September 28th to put him at 59 home runs. He was one away from the big 60 mark. Mattingly was determined to get him 60 and in the last game of the season, he decided to bat Stanton lead off. Stanton would get 2 hits in 5 at-bats after losing the game to the Braves 8-5.

Giancarlo Stanton’s 2017 dominant performance earned him quite a few accolades. Stanton would join the top 10 list of all-time home runs at number 9. He was one away from tying Babe Ruth’s 60 home run season. His first major award was given before Game 2 of the World Series when he was presented with the Hank Aaron Award because of his dominant offensive explosion. This was the second one of his career. He was later presented with the NL MVP Award after beating Cincinnati Red Joey Voto by 2 votes. Stanton would also hold 10 Marlin record, including most career home runs, RBI’s, slugging percentage, total bases, strikeouts, single-season home runs, RBI’s, slugging percentage, extra-base hits, and total bases.

Stanton’s 2017 season stats were out of the roof. He ended with a line of .281/.376/.631 as well as hitting 59 home runs and 132 RBI’s. He had a BB% of 12.3 and a K% of 23.6%, the lowest in his career. His advanced stats were also some of his best. He had a wRC of 131 (career-best) and a wRC+ of 158 (tied for 2nd-career-best). He had a career-best wOBA of .410 and a career-best wRAA of 52.3.

Stanton did not only have an offensive explosion, but also did have a great year in fielding. He had a career best DRS of 11. His UZR and URZ/150 were also and were also some of his career best. He had a URZ of 8.3 and a UZR/150 of 8.2.

After Stanton’s MVP season, he would exercise his no-trade cause 2 times rejecting deals both to the Cardinals and Giants. On December 11th, however, he would be traded to the New York Yankees in exchange for Starlin Castro and 2 young prospects. Stanton would become the 2nd player ever to be traded after having a 50-homer season.