Mike Stanton is 21. In parts of two seasons with the Florida Marlins his isolated power, or ISO—the difference between his slugging percentage and batting average—is .249. Anyone who's seen him brutalize St. Louis Cardinals pitching all week shouldn't be surprised by that number, but his ability to do it before he could legally consume Four Loko should come as at least a mild shock. Here's a complete list of players in the last 30 years who had an ISO of at least 248 at 20 years old in as many at-bats as Stanton managed:
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- Alex Rodriguez (.273) ↵
- Mike Stanton (.248) ↵
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- Albert Pujols (.281) ↵
- Alex Rodriguez (.273) ↵
- Darryl Strawberry (.255) ↵
- Mike Stanton (.248) ↵
It was sometimes hard to keep track of Mike Stanton in The Year Of Jason Heyward, but it's difficult to overestimate just how good he was. In 2010, between AA and the majors, he hit 43 home runs and 34 doubles. It's hard to believe it in the post-steroids run-scoring environment, but those are the kind of numbers Stanton could put up in the next few years in the Major Leagues.
↵I'm not sure that's much consolation to Eduardo Sanchez, but it is what it is...
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