Stanton shut down for rest of season

ST. PETERSBURG -- Giancarlo Stanton's left hand never reached the point where the All-Star felt he could get back in the lineup. So on Tuesday, the Marlins made it official that the 25-year-old right fielder has been shut down for the remainder of the season.

The news wasn't totally unexpected, because Stanton had not been hitting in recent days, although on Sunday he noted he planned on going on Miaimi's final road trip. But he wasn't with the club on Tuesday for the series opener against the Rays.

"In fairness to Giancarlo, he gave his best effort in trying to get back," manager Dan Jennings said. "He wanted to be out playing. He just didn't have the comfort level in that hand. The scar tissue had not completely released. Therefore, there was a strength element only that he was uncomfortable with."

Stanton broke the hamate bone in his left hand while swinging the bat on June 26. Two days later he underwent surgery, and never was able to return.

The initial recovery time from the injury was four to six weeks, but this month Stanton was dealing with an unusual amount of scar tissue in the hand. He noted that the strength hadn't fully returned to his left pinky and ring finger.

Stanton appeared in a Minor League rehab assignment game with Class A Advanced Jupiter on Sept. 2, but his hand wasn't responding. At that point, he was aiming for a Sept. 4 return.

As a team, the Marlins never got on track this season. Being without Stanton since late June didn't help. The slugger finishes with 27 home runs and 67 RBIs. At the time he went down, he paced the Majors in both catagories.

Stanton appeared in 74 games and had a slash line of .265/.346/.606.

"He was on his way, certainly, to be considered in the MVP race," Jennings said. "It's unfortunate any time you lose a star-caliber player to injury. It's unfortunate for the player, the team. But I think the good of it is he will be back and be at full strength."

Jennings noted that Stanton likely would revisit a hand specialist, but added he should be fully recovered for Spring Training.

"It will be a good offseason. He will be back ready," Jennings said. "There's no thought about, 'Perhaps he won't be ready' or any of that. It's just going to take a little longer than what was originally thought.

"Sometimes it can take a little bit longer to release the scar tissue, have it break up to the point where there is a little numbness in the pinky and the ring finger. I think that's where some of the strength issues that Giancarlo feels that's coming from.