The Miami Marlins are on fire, and picking a great time to do it as the 2014 MLB season enters its home stretch.

At this time, the Marlins have won seven of their last 10 games, including three of four in a series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The team has struggled all season, but now find themselves at an even 62-62 record in the MLB standings.

And much of that success is because of outfielder Giancarlo Stanton, who is having a spectacular baseball season.

Stanton, a native of Panorama, California with Puerto Rican roots, is tied for the major league lead in home runs with Nelson Cruz, who also has 32 home runs. Stanton leads the entire National League in home runs. His 88 runs batted in also lead the National League, and are good enough for third in the majors, just behind David Ortiz and Jose Abreu. Perhaps the best statistic of Stanton's 2014 season is his total bases. Stanton has hit for 259 total bases, just one behind Mike Trout.

The Marlins haven't made a single postseason appearance since 2003, when they won the World Series against the New York Yankees.

At 62-62, and with 38 games remaining, the Marlins still have a very realistic chance at making the playoffs. It's unlikely they will catch the Washington Nationals, who are 8.5 games ahead, but a wild card spot is still possible. The Marlins are just three wins behind the San Francisco Giants for the second wild card opening.

Stanton has recorded at least one hit in his last four games including a home run. He has the highest slugging percentage in the National League at .566, and that number continues to grow.

Although Stanton has never batted .300 for an entire season, he is hitting a career-high .295 so far this year. Because of his enormous power and ability to hit the long ball, pitchers are intentionally walking Stanton when he comes up to the plate. Stanton has been intentionally walked 20 times this year so far, more than twice the amount of any other season of his career.

A case can certainly be made for Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who has been pitching unbelievably this season. Thanks in part to Kershaw, the Dodgers find themselves with the best record in the National League.

However, a pitcher has not won the NL MVP since Bob Gibson did so in 1968.

Stanton leads the league and the Marlins in multiple categories, which will help his candidacy for Most Valuable Player. He does, however, have a lot of strikeouts. His 138 strikeouts lead the Marlins and are the sixth-highest in all of baseball. It won't be his ultimate downfall, but it is his only blemish.

The Marlins are set to begin a series against the Texas Rangers, followed by the Colorado Rockies. If the Marlins can make the MLB postseason, Stanton's MVP case would only get stronger.

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