Giancarlo Stanton crushes 450th career home run vs. Orioles, becomes fifth-fastest player to milestone

New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton launched the 450th home run of his career in the first inning of Saturday's contest against the Baltimore Orioles (GameTracker). Stanton's home run came with two on and two out, giving New York an early 3-0 edge versus Baltimore right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano. 

Here's a look at the home run in question, which Statcast calculated as having a 104.2 mph exit velocity and carrying some 358 feet:

Stanton's 450th home run came in his 1,719th game, making him the fifth quickest player to that mark in Major League Baseball history, per YES Network's Maxwell Kravatz.

1. Mark McGwire: 1,524 games
2. Babe Ruth 1,585 games
3. Alex Rodriguez 1,684 games
4. Harmon Killebrew 1,713 games
5. Giancarlo Stanton 1,719 games

The 450 homers are also the most among active MLB players. Stanton is, currently, the only active player in the 400 Home Run Club, though Mike Trout entered Saturday at 399.

Stanton, 35, came into Saturday's game hitting .267/.339/.546 (147 OPS+) with 20 home runs and 53 runs batted in over the course of his first 69 contests this season. His contributions had been worth an estimated 1.2 Wins Above Replacement, according to Baseball-Reference's calculations. 

Stanton has averaged more than 27 home runs per season since the start of the 2021 campaign. If he can maintain that pace (or get close to it) and stay mostly healthy, he should be able to clear the 500-homer threshold before the guaranteed portion of his contract expires after the 2027 season. Stanton would become the 29th player to accomplish that feat.

The Yankees entered Saturday's game with an 86-68 record that puts them three games behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League East race. The Yankees were also two games up on the Houston Astros for the AL's top wild card spot.