Entering Friday's action, Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins is the current National League leader in home runs (36), RBI (102) and slugging percentage (.566). If he's able to maintain his status in all three categories through the end of the season, he'll be the first NL player to do so since Dante Bichette of the 1995 Colorado Rockies, per ESPN Stats & Info.
Bichette finished second in MVP voting during his impressive '95 campaign, accumulating 40 homers, 128 RBI and a career-high .620 slugging percentage. He also swiped 13 bases and collected a whopping 197 hits that season.
Although Stanton still has some catching up to do if he's going to match those types of numbers, his performance has certainly warranted the MVP buzz that's been catching steam in recent weeks.
Per ESPN Stats & Info, Stanton was the first player in the majors to top 100 RBI during the 2014 season. He currently has 102, 10 more than Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez (92), who is second in the NL entering Friday.
The Miami right fielder is also just one long ball shy of his career-best mark of 37, set back in the 2012 campaign. Wednesday's eighth-inning, 400-foot shot tied him with Nelson Cruz of the Baltimore Orioles for the major league lead.
With respect to slugging percentage, Stanton is quite a bit behind Chicago White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu, whose .602 mark makes him the only player in the majors slugging over .600.
With Stanton's Marlins currently 5.5 games out of the NL wild-card hunt entering Thursday, his slugging prowess will surely be a key factor in any prospective playoff push.
All stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference unless otherwise specified.
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