Miami Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton hit his 150th career home run in Monday’s 7-1 win over the Los Angeles Angels, thus becoming the 12th player in major-league history with 150 homers through his age-24 season, per MLB Stat of the Day.
Stanton, who turns 25 in November, hit his milestone homer in the fourth inning off Angels reliever Cory Rasmus, lining a ball well over the left-center-field fence in Anaheim for a 428-foot blast. The three-run homer helped Miami get back to .500, with a 65-65 record leaving them three games back of the San Francisco Giants for the second wild-card spot.
Stanton’s 33 home runs are tops in the National League this season, four ahead of the 29 hit by Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo. With the next closest challengers being New York Mets first baseman Lucas Duda (26) and Atlanta Braves outfielder Justin Upton (25), Stanton has an excellent chance to lead the league in homers for the first time in his career.
Among players who started their careers in the expansion era (since 1961), Stanton—at 24 years, 290 days—is the sixth-fastest to reach 150 homers, per ESPN Stats & Info. The expansion-era record belongs to Andruw Jones (24 years, 158 days), who is followed by Ken Griffey Jr. (24-180), Albert Pujols (24-212), Alex Rodriguez (24-255) and Johnny Bench (24-288).
Off to an historically fast start in his young career, Stanton is already just four home runs away from Dan Uggla’s franchise record of 154.
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