Chase For 500: A Look at Giancarlo Stanton’s Hall of Fame Case

Despite putting up some impressive numbers over the last 16 years, Stanton’s case for Cooperstown is likely to be a controversial one — not because of any perceived lacking in his stats, but because of the unfortunate amount of time he’s spent on the shelf.

Star Power

After being selected by the Florida Marlins in the second round of the 2007 MLB Draft, Stanton made his big-league debut for the team in June 2010. Over the next eight seasons, he accumulated a .268/.360/.554 line with a 147 OPS+ and 267 home runs, racking up an NL MVP win, four All-Star selections, two Silver Sluggers, and two Hank Aaron Awards, having led the National League in home runs and slugging in both 2014 and 2017.

Stanton was traded to the New York Yankees at the end of 2017, making him just the second player in MLB history to be traded immediately after a 50-homer season. Since then, he’s been a powerful presence on New York’s lineup, and even during his career-worst season in 2023 when he posted an abysmal .191/.275/.420 line across 415 plate appearances, he still managed 24 home runs.

This year, Stanton seems to be on something of a hot streak. He’s hitting .313/.388/.663 with 17 homers after 183 PA, and during the month of July, he posted a 167 wRC+ with a .635 slugging percentage to rank 12th in MLB. As of August 27, his wRC+ is sitting at a staggering 187, though he hasn’t yet accumulated enough plate appearances to be considered qualified.

On the surface, Stanton’s batting stats certainly make a strong case for his eventual induction into the Hall of Fame, and now that he’s just 54 career home runs shy of 500, that case is only becoming more compelling.

Unfortunately, that’s not the full story.

Injuries Woes

Despite his fierce numbers at the plate, Stanton has been caught in the injured list’s revolving door for most of his career — and it certainly hasn’t gone unnoticed. At the 2023 General Managers’ meetings in Arizona, Yankees GM Brian Cashman referred to Stanton as “injury-prone,” adding that he expects and plans for the outfielder to spend time on the IL each season.

“I’m not gonna tell you he’s gonna play every game next year because he’s not,” Cashman said. “He’s going to wind up getting hurt again, more likely than not, because it seems to be part of his game.”

Cashman attempted to clarify his controversial comments a week later, stating that “things got spun out of control” and he views Stanton as “one of the big drivers” to the Yankees’ success, but it was still hard to deny that his initial remarks had a lot of truth to them.

In fact, very few of Stanton’s 16 seasons in MLB haven’t been marred by injury.

In 2012, Stanton was limited to 123 games after undergoing knee surgery, and the next year, a hamstring injury kept him at 116 games. His 2014 campaign ended early after a hit by pitch to the face resulted in facial fractures, lacerations, and dental damage, and in 2015, a season-ending hand injury shut him down after just 74 games. In 2016, he missed over three weeks of play due to a groin injury.

After managing to stay relatively healthy throughout 2017 and 2018, Stanton’s 2019 season was limited to just 19 games because of a biceps strain followed by a knee injury. He dealt with a hamstring injury in 2020, a left quadriceps strain in 2021, ankle and foot injuries in 2022, and a hamstring strain in 2023. He was sidelined with another hamstring injury in 2024, and started this season on the IL with epicondylitis in both elbows.

Since joining the Yankees before the 2018 season, Stanton has slowly transitioned from the outfield to designated hitter, largely due to his ongoing injury concerns. For the first time since 2022, he made three consecutive starts in the outfield earlier this month, but quickly landed back on the IL, with Yankees manager Aaron Boone explaining that Stanton’s lower body was struggling to recover from the series.

Will Stanton Go to Cooperstown?

Throughout his career, Stanton’s seemingly endless string of injuries has been a hot topic of conversation amongst fans and pundits, often approaching the point of overshadowing his achievements. The 35-year-old obviously can’t help being injured, but the fact that he’s so regularly missing from the lineup has limited his potential impact on MLB.

If Stanton were to retire today, his lengthy injury history would almost certainly make it difficult for him to secure a ticket to Cooperstown, even though his batting stats make him seem like an obvious shoo-in. Another 54 career home runs will likely sway opinions more firmly in his favor, but his ability to do that will rely on him staying healthy enough over the next two to three seasons to stay in the lineup.

Stanton’s contract with the Yankees guarantees him another two seasons before the team will decide whether to exercise their club option for 2028. Regardless of what the future holds — be it in or out of the Hall of Fame — let’s hope he can stay away from the IL long enough to end his impressive career on the high note it deserves.