Giancarlo Stanton is top five home run hitter in Major League baseball and given his history of knocking the ball well out of the park, he is the favorite going into the contest.
Here’s what you need to know about him:
1. He is the Favorite For the Home Run Derby
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The young Marlins slugger was given 3/1 odds over the other nine players in the contest based on his stats and raking in the MLB this season. With only 4 players in the league with a higher home run number and none of them present in the contest, Stanton is the favorite although his National League teammate Troy Tulowitzki has the same amount of home runs this season followed by Josh Donaldson on the American League side.
2. He is Tied For 5th For Most Home Runs This Season
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One of the reasons he is the favorite is because he has the most home runs of anyone in the Home Run Derby field of participants.
The only players in the league in front of him are:
Jose Abreu (29)
Nelson Cruz (28)
Edwin Encarnacion (26)
Mike Trout (22)
Stanton has 21 so far.
3. He Has Hit More +450 Home Runs Than Any MLB Team Altogether
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HR Derby favorite. MT @ESPNStatsInfo Giancarlo Stanton has actually hit more 450+ foot HRs than any TEAM in MLB. pic.twitter.com/9BeCqqqpdk
— Mike Whitlow (@MAWhitlow) July 10, 2014
Not only does is he constantly hitting home runs, but he hits them farther than anyone in the MLB.
When he was 16 years old, he hit a home run onto a golf course. In 2008 he hit a home run with a broken bat (when he was 18 years old). In 2010, he hit a ball out of the Dodgers’ Stadium and hit a 550 feet home run that same year. In 2012, he broke a scoreboard. Needless to say he is a fan favorite and is never boring to watch.
4. He Was in the ESPN Body Issue in 2013
Last year, he was chosen to be in the prestigious ESPN Body Issue where he posed naked for the shoot. Watch the video above to see the making and result.
5. He is Puerto Rican, African American and Irish
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Stanton was born near Los Angeles, California and went to Verdugo Hills High School in Tujunga, California prior to changing to Notre Dame High School in LA. He was a 3 sport athlete and drafted into the MLB at the age of 17 in 2007 to the Florida Marlins in the amateur draft and went pro instead of taking a scholarship to attend USC.
Stanton a third Irish, African-American, and Puerto Rican and also is a part of the the Criollos de Caguas in the Puerto Rico Baseball League. His parent named him Giancarlo because they like the name even though he is not Italian.
