March 2010

MIKE STANTON OF MARLINS
11/8/1989
6’5″ AND 225 LBS
BATS- R THROWS- R
Drafted- 2nd Rd – 2007 High School
Bonus- $475,000

Stanton is a prototype rightfielder with an excellent arm, he’s football player athletic and has the minor leagues absolute best raw power as shown by his career 67 HRs in 2 seasons. He crushes mistakes with light tower power and has a highly touted work ethic. Chances are that the Marlins won’t rush him if they’ve learned from the mistakes they made with Cameron Maybin and Stanton will still have at least a half year of development left before getting a crack at RF in Miami. Let’s take a look at Stanton’s peripherals to see why that time is still needed.

You can see from the numbers that it takes Stanton time to adjust to the speed of each level. His walk numbers dip and his strikeouts jump. But his work ethic and willingness to learn have afforded him short learning curves at each level. His BB/K needs work. Of that there is no doubt. But the silver lining is that he struck out less in 2009 than he did in 2008 against better competition and in a pitchers league in FSL. Those are good signs that Stanton has it in him to become more patient as a hitter in due time. Once he’s able to better control the strikezone and work into good hitters counts he’ll be able to unleash power that most hitters at any level simply don’t have.

http://www.viddler.com/explore/prospectinsider/videos/24/

SETUP

Stanton’s set is wide spread with weight on his back leg in a crouch which is good for a power hitter of his size to get his weight through the ball.

HEAD MOVEMENT

His head movement is pretty minimal for a power hitter which has a lot to do with the wide spread which limits his stride.

LOWER HALF

His lower half from the crouch is actually pretty quiet. He lifts his front foot and plants using his raw tools to generate the power.

STRIDE

As previously noted, Stanton’s Stride is a minimal lift and plant which keeps his mechanics quiet until he pulls the trigger on the swing.

EXTENSION

This is where Stanton needs some work. His swing can get loopy at times and isn’t consistent from at bat to at bat which we can’t discern from one video. But after seeing him often in the FSL I noticed him getting in trouble with outside breaking balls and inside fastballs and its not because he can’t hit either pitch or because he’s guessing up there. He is smart enough to adjust and uses a shorter stroke to go the other way and can still supply power that way. Some additional time in the minors will allow him to find a comfortable medium so he can start to adjust during at bats and be able to use his natural power to the whole field.

OUR INSTINCT

Stanton still needs development time. He’ll start the season back at AA and is expected to rip through the league like he’s done at the start of each new season. With big time power hitters it will always take time to adjust to the new levels of competition before they are able to utilize their power advantage. But this year that new level could be the majors around midseason if the Marlins needs the power bat because they find themselves in the race for the NL East. They are an organization that is well known for doing everything they can to win when they are in position to do so, even if that means rushing the development of their top talents like Stanton. Even if he’s rushed this season you can expect the power to translate immediately. His K% will never be low but he should be able to work the bb/k ratio into a much more serviceable level within the first 2 seasons of his career and then be a legitimate 40 HR threat for many seasons.

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