Giancarlo Stanton is exactly who the Miami Marlins need

The Marlins are a bad hitting team, Giancarlo Stanton is a good hitting player. So naturally, the Miami Marlins cannot wait to get them back into their lineup. On Wednesday, Giancarlo came one step closer to returning after taking BP and experiencing no pain. No return date is set, but baseball activities have started and everyone knows the Marlins need all the help they can get.

The Miami Marlins lineup currently boasts a -1.0 FanGraphs Wins Above Replacement (fWAR) and has scored only 125 runs through 47 games, totals that are good for last in the league. So, on second thought, I probably should not say the Miami Marlins lineup is "boasting" anything.

As addressed in this piece by Grant Brisbee of Baseball Nation, the Miami Marlins are on pace to have the 10th worst OPS in major league history with .601, but, to quote, "It's never a good idea to bet on historically bad". This statement basically dismisses the idea that the Miami Marlins are the worst offensive team in major league history. The way I see it, the Marlins can only get better.

For nearly half of the season the Miami Marlins have been without their best hitter, Giancarlo Stanton who was placed on the DL April 30th for a hamstring strain. As I'm sure many of you recall, Giancarlo was not having the best go of things at the plate.Before his injury he hit a mere .227/.341/.387 slash with a .322 wOBA in April, but that is not the story of Giancarlo Stanton. The story of Giancarlo Stanton is that of 30-plus home run seasons and 5.7 fWAR in 2012, near-MVP type performance.

When the Miami Marlins get him back into the lineup they will have gotten their big difference maker. The "big difference" that he makes will not be between loser and winner, or playoffs and golfing. The difference he makes will be between being the worst and being the near-worst. With the worst being the Houston Astros and their total rebuild, and the near-worst being...well...your Miami Marlins.