Miami Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton is up to his usual tricks this season, with eight home runs and 32 RBI through 28 games heading into Friday’s contest against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Stanton knocked in 31 of those 32 runs before the end of April, setting a franchise record for most RBI before the beginning of May, per ESPN Stats & Info.
The previous record holder, Moises Alou, had 30 RBI for the Marlins before May 1 in 1997 while also hitting eight home runs. He finished the month with a white-hot .360/.430/.744 slash line, but Alou finished the year at a more modest .292/.373/.493, with 23 home runs and 115 RBI.
Stanton held an excellent but not overwhelming .269/.342/.565 line at the end of April, as his 35 strikeouts through 120 plate appearances (29.2 percent K rate) made it hard to post a top-notch batting average or on-base percentage.
Where Stanton excelled was crushing baseballs and knocking in runs. His eight home runs are tied with Justin Upton’s for second place in the National League, and his 32 RBI are well ahead of Adrian Gonzalez’s 25 for first.
What’s more, Stanton has a knack for making his home runs count. He’s hit three of the 10 longest dingers in all of baseball this season, per ESPN’s Home Run Tracker. His 484-foot blast on April 4 reigns as the furthest hit homer in the majors this season, two feet ahead of a 482-foot David Ortiz long ball.
The 24-year-old outfielder already has a small piece of Marlins history, but he’s likely aiming higher than an April record. The team single-season home run (42) and RBI (121) records could be in reach, with the former set by Gary Sheffield in 1996 and the latter by Preston Wilson in 2000.
Be it this year, next, or some time in the distant future, Stanton should eventually break at least one of the two records, if not both.
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