Michael Stanton: Baseball's Top Young Power Hitter

For good reason, most of the sports-viewing public doesn’t pay much attention to Minor League Baseball. Also for good reason, even fewer people follow the Marlins’ minor league system. Considering the Marlins’ “fanbase,” it shouldn’t be a surprise their minor league system is paid little attention. But that’s about to change, at least with regard to one prospect.

Meet Michael Stanton. Stanton is an 18 year old OF playing with the Marlins' high A ball affiliate in Jupiter. Florida selected Stanton in the second round of the 2007; Stanton, a three sport star who turned down a chance to play football and baseball at USC, is out of Notre Dame HS in Southern California, which includes famous alumni like the canckled wonder JPF, a noted athletic phenom himself.

Normally, someone in high A ball isn’t anyone to get excited about, no matter how well they're hitting. But as a 17 year old in low A ball, Stanton put up the following line:

AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	HR	K	BB
0.294	0.383	0.613	0.996	39	151	38

As a 17 year old, Stanton hit 39 HRs with a .383 OBP. These are excellent numbers for any prospect, let alone one whose primary sport in high school was football. Stanton’s season wasn’t without its problems, as he struck out too much, but there were reasons for hope.

Heading into the 2009 season, Stanton typically found his place among the top 30 prospects in baseball. Peter Gammons touted Stanton this Spring, but the buzz around him still wasn’t all that strong, primarily because of issues with his plate discipline.

This year, Stanton moved to the Sally League, which is typically a big-time pitchers league. Stanton has the reputation of being a student of the game with excellent makeup, and his offseason development illustrates this reputation. So far in 2009, Stanton’s absolutely obliterated the FSL:

	ABs	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	HR	K	BB
April	75	0.280	0.372	0.476	0.848	2	24	10
May	94	0.298	0.391	0.660	1.045	10	19	15
Season	176	0.290	0.385	0.568	0.953	12	44	27

Currently, Stanton leads the FSL in HRs and is third in OPS (Twins prospect Ben Revere is also having a great season in the FSL). His numbers are impressive for anyone, but for an 18 year old in the FSL they’re staggering. 18 year olds rarely show the power Stanton has, and when his power is combined with his improvement in plate discipline, his development is all the more remarkable.

Last July, the Red Sox asked for Stanton to be included in any potential Manny Ramirez trade to Florida. The Marlins declined, and shortly thereafter trade talks fell apart. Even though Manny would have immensely helped Florida’s 2008 playoff chances, the Marlins are probably pretty happy they didn’t deal Stanton.

Players with Stanton’s athleticism and production, at such a young age, are extremely rare. If Stanton keeps hitting at Jupiter, he should be promoted to AA later this season, and probably open the 2010 season at AA Jacksonville. If he hits at Jacksonville, he could get the major league call sometime in late 2010, before his 20th birthday.

Keep your eye on Stanton. He’s likely to open 2010 as one of baseball’s top five prospects, and will probably be #1 on at least some lists. If he keeps developing as expected, Stanton should be one of MLB's top power hitters by 2012.

(Edit: As I've been made aware, I'm a jackass who can't correctly calculate birthdays. Stanton's a year older than I said in this entire piece - so, where I stated he was 17, he was actually 18.)