Miami Marlins MVP Award

Aug 16, 2014; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Marlins right fielder Giancarlo Stanton (27) connects for an RBI single during the seventh inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Marlins Ballpark. The Marlins won 10-3. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

With the Miami Marlins season officially over, we at Marlin Maniac will begin to hand out our end of year awards for the Fish. Some awards have fairly obvious recipients, some not so obvious, and some awards themselves will just be for fun. This first award qualifies as one of the former. While the Marlins had some excellent performances this year from the likes of Marcell Ozuna, Christian Yelich, and even Henderson Alvarez, this award was a landslide.

The Marlins 2014 MVP was Giancarlo Stanton, and truly it wasn’t even that close. Our staff voting made it unanimous and that is not surprising considering the right fielder is one of the contenders for the National League MVP. It has been no secret that Stanton, 24, has some serious talent. The main question has been if he could stay healthy after two injury plagued seasons. This year was Stanton’s coming out party as he not only stayed healthy, but he led the league in home runs and finished 2nd in runs batted in with 37 and 105 respectively.

His power has been known, but is ability to get on base took a major jump forward as he increased his OBP from a career average of .365 to .395. His BABIP was a ridiculous .353, not typically a sustainable number unless you consider how hard he hits the ball and how little time it gives fielders to react.