Spring training games start this week. It's baseball, and that's a good thing, even if it's not baseball that is all that important. But there are things to watch for, and at the top of that list is the return of Giancarlo Stanton, now with a funky new helmet with a face guard to help protect his jaw that was broken in September.

You have to believe one thing pitchers will do is test Stanton with inside fastballs to see if there is any residual effects from the beaning. Fair warning to pitchers who try this: Be careful.

Check out the heat map with Stanton's slugging percentage against fastballs in 2014:

Conventional wisdom suggests big sluggers like Stanton like to get their arms extended, so you try to tie them up inside. In Stanton's case, however, he's so quick through the strike zone that he destroys inside fastballs.

Of course, Stanton destroys fastballs in general, hitting .329/.437/.612 against them in 2014. Only Jose Abreu had a higher wOBA against fastballs:

1. Jose Abreu, White Sox: .454

2. Giancarlo Stanton, Marlins: .446

3. Victor Martinez, Tigers: .440

4. Andrew McCutchen, Pirates, .434

5 (tie). Nelson Cruz, Orioles: .433

5 (tie). Jayson Werth, Nationals, .433

That doesn't mean Stanton isn't vulnerable inside. Check the heat map again. If you pitch him in with fastballs, you have to come in off the plate. Let's break down his results on inside fastballs that were actually in the strike zone versus those outside the strike zone.

In the zone: .521/.520/1.083 (25-for-48, eight home runs)

Out of the zone: .211/.375/.246 (12-for-57, zero home runs)

So Stanton can be tied up with inside heat, but the pitcher has to get Stanton to chase pitches out of the zone.

Should you throw him more outside fastballs? Not necessarily. Stanton is less likely to chase out of the zone on pitches off the plate, so while his isolated power on contact wasn't as high on outside fastballs, his overall rate of production was actually a little better since he drew more walks:

Inside fastballs: .352/.434/.629 (.451 wOBA, 11th in majors)

Outside fastballs: .339/.513/.571 (.473 wOBA, fifth in majors)

Stanton's biggest weakness? Sliders. He hit .184 (27-for-147) against them, although nine of those 27 hits were home runs. With two strikes, he hit .126 against sliders. So there you go. All you have to do is get ahead of him and throw him a good slider low and away.

And how do pitchers usually get ahead in the count? With fastballs. Yeah, there's a reason Stanton is good.

Anyway, I still think once the regular season begins we'll see Stanton tested more inside. The good news: He's already been hit and says he's fine.