DETROIT — It’s been nearly four years since an 88-miles-per-hour fastball from Mike Fiers caught Giancarlo Stanton flush in the face, sending him to the hospital a bloodied mess: a broken nose, cheek and orbital bone, a broken incisor and a half-dozen chipped teeth.
After extensive dental and plastic surgery, there is barely a mark on Stanton’s telegenic face. Stanton has also insisted that there are no lingering mental scars — no fear of getting hit again (though he wears a protective flap on his batting helmet) or latent animosity toward Fiers, whom he faced a year ago during spring training and earlier this season.