Stanton Records Hardest-Hit Ball Ever Amid Slump
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MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (CBSMiami) -- Miami Marlins' slugger Giancarlo Stanton has been sluggish this year.
So sluggish, his batting average has dipped below .200 and he's just 3-for-29 in the month of June, including 14 strikeouts. He hit .173 in May and to make matters worse, six other Marlins' bats are hitting above .300 this season.
But Stanton can still hit the ball hard. He already held the record for the hardest hit ball, recorded in May 2015 at 120.3 mph by MLB's Statcast, which began tracking bat speeds in 2014.
On Thursday in Minnesota, Stanton broke that record on a ground ball to second base that ended in a double play.
Measured at 123.9 mph, it's enough to give fans hope that the highest paid athlete in all of sports is simply mired in a slump that he'll soon get over. After all, it's only June.
A record 123.9 mph off the bat … imagine if @Giancarlo818 had hit this in the air? https://t.co/dB2bBjdSyz #Statcast pic.twitter.com/kYoGhmltu5
— #Statcast (@statcast) June 10, 2016