Don't Take Giancarlo Stanton's Greatness for Granted

We don't often take enough time to admire the consistently great players in baseball. Guys like Mike Trout, Paul Goldschmidt, and Clayton Kershaw are rarely broken down or have their exploits investigated with any real frequency.

Miami Marlins Giancarlo Stanton is just such a player. The 25-year-old slugger has been one of the game's best power hitters for years now, as well as a perennial MVP candidate. There's just not a lot of new ground to cover with him.

However, sometimes, you just need to stop, take a moment, and admire the greatness.

Uh, so yeah, the greatness. That home run on Wednesday night, which traveled an estimated 452 feet, was his 27th of the season and his 12th in the month of June. He's on pace to obliterate the Marlins' record for most homers before the All Star Break, 28, by former third baseman Mike Lowell in 2003. It's also the most dingers ever hit in a single month by a Marlin, tied with his own record of 12 back in May of 2012 and Dan Uggla, who hit 12 in May of 2008.

Here is what he's done so far this year and what his number project to over the course of a full season.

Yes, that's right, over a 162-game season, Stanton is on pace to hit 60 homers, something no player has done since Sammy Sosa did it in 2003, right smack dab in the middle of the steroid era. And it's even more impressive given that he got off to a bit of a slow start in the first two months of the season.

But it's not just that Stanton is hitting a lot of home runs. Make no doubt, no one in baseball hits the ball harder, or farther, than Giancarlo does.

The ball has come off the bat at a greater rate of speed than any other player in baseball this year, and the gap between himself and anyone else is staggering. According to Daren Willman from Baseball Savant, Stanton has 17 batted balls that have had an exit velocity of 115 miles per hour or greater in 2015. The next closest player has three.

Stanton's average exit velocity is 101.94 miles per hour. Among players with at least 100 at-bats this year, Pittsburgh's Pedro Alvarez second at a distant 98.10 miles per hour.

So, here's the deal. Stanton is a monster. And while we all knew this to be true, it's still good to remind ourselves every once in a while how consistently monstrous he's been.

A 60-homer season could be in the works. Talk about fun.