Stanton Smash

This hasn't exactly been much of a secret around Major League Baseball the last few years. Giancarlo Stanton is really good at hitting a baseball. Not only that but he's really good at hitting them a long way. This year's Home Run Derby couldn't have been any better a place to help prove that. Stanton went at it with last years winner Todd Frazer. Stanton had the raw power edge and beat Frazer, walking away with the Home Run Derby crown for 2016.

Stanton went off in the Derby this year, smashing 61 total homers in the entire tournament, obliterating the old record of 41, which Bobby Abreu set in 2005 (Frazer too passed that mark by hitting 42 dingers in the derby this year). Giancarlo came into the Derby a little bit hot, hitting five home runs over the final week heading into the all-star break, giving him twenty on the year. In his entire big league career, he's never hit fewer than twenty in a year. So he's on pace to clip 40 this year for the first time ever should he stay healthy. More on that in a moment. Back to the Derby.

Here's a look at some of the raw numbers from Stanton's performance in the Derby this year. He clubbed 61 total homeruns in three rounds of the derby. Stanton's home runs traveled a total projected distance of 27,187 feet, which is 5.15 miles and 9,918 feet more than any other competitor (MLB). Eleven of his home runs in the final round (he hit twenty in the finals) and 39 of his total home runs on the day (out of 61 total hit) went over 440 feet. He averaged, AVERAGED, 446 feet on his home runs over the evening. Frazer averaged 430 feet. The rest of the hitters combined for a 412 foot average on their homers.

Those are inhumane numbers. Now here comes the big question. What does this mean for Stanton in the power department in the 2nd half of the year? Sometimes we've seen it happen where guys who have won the Home Run Derby. Guys power numbers will drop off after either winning, or even participating in, the derby. We shall see what happens with Stanton, because he got off to a slow start in the power department and just got to twenty at the break. So we shall see what this does for him the rest of the year.

Congratulations to Giancarlo Stanton, the 2016 Home Run Derby Champion!