Top 30 athletes under 30

17. Giancarlo Stanton, Miami Marlins – 25 years old

For the first two years of his career, the 25-year-old slugger for the Miami Marlins went by another name. In the franchise’s last two years as the Florida Marlins, he was known as Mike Stanton. When the Marlins officially changed their name to the Miami Marlins, Mike Stanton evolved into Giancarlo Stanton.

A name change was the only difference for Stanton. He continued to mash baseballs on a regular basis for the Marlins. The 56 home runs he posted as “Mike” were followed up with 37 home runs in his first year as Giancarlo in 2012.

Injuries have been an issue for Stanton. He’s missed 264 games in his six years in the big leagues. Knowing that the Marlins gave him a 13-year mega deal worth $325 million means that he should probably be seeing the field more, but injuries are a part of the game. To be fair, in spite of the time he’s missed, Stanton has over-performed whenever he’s been on the field.

Stanton averages a home run for every 14 at-bats in his career. When you think about the fact that he’s missed that many games and still has 181 home runs, your jaw should drop. If Stanton had stayed even relatively more healthy than he’s been, he’d be well over 200 home runs by now. In fact, if he averaged 500 at-bats a year for those six years, he’d be at approximately 214 home runs.

That would land him at around 500 home runs by the time he’d be 32. And of course, it’s fun to think about whether or not he could keep up those numbers for another six years and get to 700.

But the “what if” game can be trouble. Regardless of what Stanton’s numbers should be, he’s still been one of the game’s best hitters and an athletic right fielder with a cannon attached to his shoulder.

He should win at least one MVP award by the time it’s all said and done.

Next: No. 16 A.J. Green