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Giancarlo Stanton homers in sixth straight game as his amazing August continues

Mike Oz

Giancarlo Stanton, despite the fact that he plays for the sub-.500 Miami Marlins, might just be the most interesting man in baseball right now. He’s on an incredible home-run tear that included his sixth straight game with a dinger Tuesday night and he might just be traded before the end of the month if the Marlins can muster all their sell-high power to pull off a rare August blockbuster.

First, the latest dinger: It came in Miami’s 9-4 loss to the San Francisco Giants, as Stanton clobbered a Madison Bumgarner pitch over the wall, giving him homers in six straight games and 11 homers in his last 12 games. That amounts to all of August, so Stanton has tied a record for homers hit in the first 15 days of a given month.

It’s like Stanton and first-half dynamo Aaron Judge traded super powers after the All-Star game. Stanton has hit 17 homers since the All-Star break, which gives him an MLB-high 44, 10 more than anybody else in the NL. He could hit 60 homers if he keeps this up. Homers in his next two games would also tie the MLB record for homers in consecutive games. That belongs to Dale Long (1956), Ken Griffey Jr. (1993) and Stanton’s manager, Don Mattingly (1987).

Just for fun, here’s a look at how Stanton’s August — with 11 homers and 21 RBIs — would project over an entire season. They’re video-game numbers:

The Marlins should be smelling opportunity right about now. As Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan reported Tuesday, Stanton has cleared waivers, which means Miami can trade him before the Aug. 31 deadline. Many teams would love to have Stanton’s bat in their lineup, but his contract might be another matter.

Stanton, 27, is owed $295 million over the next 10 years. He is allowed, however, to opt out of his current deal after the 2020 season. Will Stanton’s amazing August make teams salivate enough to pull off a blockbuster? Wilder things have happened, so stay tuned.

Giancarlo Stanton goes yard once again. (AP)
Giancarlo Stanton goes yard once again. (AP)

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!