Can Mike Stanton hit 40 homers in his first full season?

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Mike Stanton hit 43 homers between the minors and majors last season, including 22 long balls in 100 games with the Marlins following his call-up in mid-June, which has Joe Frisaro of MLB.com wondering if he can break the franchise record for homers in his first full season.

Gary Sheffield owns that mark with 42 homers in 1996 and no other Marlins hitter has homered even 35 times in a season, so Stanton doing age 21 what only one other player in only one other season could do during the team’s 18-year history seems pretty unlikely regardless of his immense power potential.

Looking beyond the Marlins, here’s a list of the most homers by a 21-year-old in baseball history:

Eddie Mathews       47     1953
Albert Pujols       37     2001
Hal Trosky          35     1934
Miguel Cabrera      35     2004
Jose Canseco        33     1986
Bob Horner          33     1979
Jimmie Foxx         33     1929
Andruw Jones        31     1998
Ruben Sierra        30     1987

Of all the great young sluggers in baseball history Eddie Mathews is the only one to smack 40-plus homers as a 21-year-old, and Mathews and Albert Pujols are the only ones to top 35 long balls at age 21. Stanton definitely has the ability to join them in 2011, but Marlins fans shouldn’t be disappointed if he manages “only” 30 homers in his first full season.

Orioles option LHP Bruce Zimmermann to minors

Brent Skeen-USA TODAY Sports
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SARASOTA, Fla. – The Baltimore Orioles have optioned left-handers Bruce Zimmermann and Nick Vespi and reassigned infielder Lewin Díaz, left-hander Darwinzon Hernandez and catcher Mark Kolozsvary to minor league camp.

The Orioles announced the moves Monday.

Baltimore’s spring training roster now has 46 players.

Zimmermann made 13 starts last season. He went 2-5 with a 5.99 ERA.

The competition for rotation spots with the Orioles has been a significant story during spring training, but after the team acquired Cole Irvin and Kyle Gibson in the offseason – and with top prospect Grayson Rodriguez in the mix as well – there were a lot of pitchers Zimmermann needed to beat out.