Giancarlo Stanton sporting new gear at the plate since return from the DL

Giancarlo Stanton was understandably frustrated when he landed on the disabled list a month ago.

The injury didn’t end Stanton’s season as first speculated.

But right around the same time, the season was over for Stanton’s customized helmet face guard.

Stanton said he broke the football-styled protection gear — designed with a letter “G” on the flap — protecting the left side of his jaw right around the time he suffered the Grade 3 groin strain that nearly brought a third consecutive season to an abrupt end.

Stanton had been wearing the helmet since he recovered from facial fractures suffered on Sept. 11, 2014, when he was hit by a fastball thrown by Brewers pitcher Mike Fiers in Milwaukee.

“I was being nice to [the old helmet], flipping it up,” Stanton said sarcastically.

Since his return from the disabled list a week ago, Stanton has been wearing a new helmet with a plain flap that covers his jaw area.

“They’re about the same,” Stanton said. “I broke one and that’s the next one up.”

Stanton has had four pinch-hit at-bats since coming back from the DL, and has gone 1 for 3 with a single and a sacrifice fly.

Stanton has typically worn the helmet when facing right-handed pitchers and a standard helmet when facing lefties.

Stanton said with the higher speeds at which pitchers are throwing, he is planning to wear some sort of face guard for the remainder of his career.

“I’ll definitely get hit in the head again in the next 10 years or however long my career lasts,” Stanton said. “It’s not just [Aroldis] Chapman throwing 100-plus mph anymore. I want to be prepared for the day it happens.”

POOR OUTING

Andrew Cashner gave up seven runs and did not finish the third inning in his worst start yet as a Marlins pitcher.

Cashner did not take the loss since the Marlins tied the score in the sixth inning, but his ERA in 39 2/3 innings pitched with the team ballooned to 6.13.

Cashner gave up six hits, walked two and did not have a strikeout.

Neither Cashner not Marlins manager Don Mattingly credited his poor outing to the blister issue that forced him to miss a start in late August.

“I didn’t really locate at all [Monday night],” Cashner said. “With this team still in the hunt, I definitely need to pitch better. This was probably my worst outing of the season. The offense did a nice job picking us up, but we just couldn’t find a way.”

THIS AND THAT

▪ The Marlins used nine pitchers in Monday’s 12-7 loss, and one of them was David Phelps.

In his first action since coming off the disabled list with an oblique strain, Phelps recorded two strikeouts, but gave up two singles and a walk, prompting Mattingly to remove him after 24 pitches.

“He was a little rusty, but good,” Mattingly said. “After 15 days [without pitching]… in a different situation, I would have left him in there.”

▪ With the first two of his three hits Monday night, Ichiro Suzuki surpassed Lou Brock for 25th place on Major League Baseball’s all-time career hits list, according to Elias. Ichiro raised his total to 3,025 hits. The next on the list is Rod Carew with 3,053.

COMING UP

▪ Wednesday: Marlins RHP Jose Fernandez (14-8, 2.90 ERA) vs. Atlanta Braves RHP Julio Teheran (5-9, 3.01 ERA), 7:10 p.m., Turner Field.

▪ Thursday: Off.

This story was originally published September 13, 2016 at 9:23 PM with the headline "Giancarlo Stanton sporting new gear at the plate since return from the DL."