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Giancarlo Stanton continues awesome hot streak with 250th career homer

Chris Cwik
Staff writer

Can we borrow the phrase “on fire” from NBA Jam for a second? Because that’s the only way to describe Miami Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton right now. The 27-year-old slugger added to his unbelievable hot streak Sunday, smashing his 250th career home run.

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In the third inning, Stanton smacked a 97 mph fastball from German Márquez to right field for a solo shot to tie the game. The blast was impressive for a number of reasons, and we’re going to chronicle all of them below.

IT WAS THE 250TH HOME RUN OF STANTON’S CAREER
Allow us to have some fun with numbers for a minute. Stanton already has 250 career home runs. That ties him with Andruw Jones for 11th most all-time through age-27. That last part is crucial, because Stanton still has over a month left in his age-27 season. With just three more blasts, he would tie Hank Aaron for 10th. With six more, he would tie Juan Gonzalez for ninth. Perhaps most impressively, though, Stanton has managed to reach that level in fewer games than anyone ahead of him. Stanton has played in just 941 career games. Alex Rodriguez, who leads all players in home runs through his age-27 season, did so in 1,275 games.

IT ADDED TO STANTON’S UNBELIEVABLE HOT STREAK
Allow us to sum up Stanton’s dominance by grabbing a few tweets.

Coming into Sunday, Stanton is hitting .325/.436/.915, with 20 home runs since July 5. That doesn’t include Sunday’s stats. Stanton’s OPS over those 32 games has been an absurd 1.350. That’s exceptionally close to Babe Ruth’s 1.359 OPS in 1921. Stanton has been as good as Ruth over his latest stretch.

Few can match Giancarlo Stanton’s incredible power. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
Few can match Giancarlo Stanton’s incredible power. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)

STANTON EXTENDED HIS LEAD IN HOME RUNS THIS SEASON
Because of this recent explosion, Stanton has overtaken New York Yankees rookie Aaron Judge for the home run lead in baseball. Not only that, but he’s put impressive distance between the top spot and everyone else. Stanton’s home run Sunday gave him 42 on the year. Judge is in second with 35.

HE DID IT IN THE MOST GIANCARLO STANTON WAY POSSIBLE
Stanton’s 250th career blast wasn’t a moonshot, it was a screaming line drive to the opposite field. It’s something he’s done before. Maybe that’s not as impressive as a 500 foot bomb to you, but consider how many major leaguers can do what Stanton just did (and has done multiple times). He has enough raw power to send a line drive out to the opposite field. There may only be two or three current players capable of that type of power. It’s a unique skill that rarely has been replicated. We should appreciate Stanton’s ability to do that more.

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Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at christophercwik@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik