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Albert Pujols is the Man
Published by MoonDog on June 30, 2008
Most of you following baseball, particularly those covering the St. Louis Cardinals, know Albert Pujols is one of baseball’s best players. This past Thursday Pujols returned to the Cardinals lineup after a two-week stay on the DL with a strained calf muscle.
All he did was go 4-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Since his return Pujols has 14 AB’s, 7 hits, 4 walks, 1 HR and 3 RBI, reaffirming, at least in my mind, he’s the best player in Major League Baseball.
Pujols is having another stellar year, hitting .356 with 17 HR’s and 45 RBI’s in just 68 games and 236 AB’s. Compare his numbers to the Braves Chipper Jones, Astros first baseman Lance Berkman or the Phillies Chase Utley and you’d be hard pressed not to give Pujols a lot of love in the NL MVP balloting later this year.
Keep in mind Pujols is producing with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, an injury he incurred during the 2003 season. In addition, Pujols has received 19 intentional walks - more than double any other player in baseball - but that total is actually more, with teams routinely pitching around him. Pujols has been walked a total of 56 times.
Berkman and Utley have generated better power numbers than Pujols, but both play in home run friendly ball parks. Utley currently leads MLB with 23 HR’s, but when you look deeper into the numbers as they compare to Pujols, it’s not even close.
Utley has 313 AB’s, striking out every 6.1 plate appearances. Pujols has 236 AB’s, striking out every 10.6 plate appearances. Utley’s OBP (.384) SLG (.610) and OPS (.994) don’t come close to Pujols’ OBP (.483) SLG (.640) and OPS (1.123). Utley has hit 16 of his 23 HR’s in 39 games at Citizen’s Bank Ball Park while Pujols has hit just 8 HR’s in 34 games at Busch Stadium, a much more difficult ball park to hit home runs.
In fact, the only player that really compares to Pujols at the moment is Jones. The number of games played, plate appearances, OBP, SLG, OPS, HR’s and RBI’s are nearly identical to Pujols’ numbers. Jones is hitting .394 but a report today has indicated he may be headed back to the DL after re-injuring a quad muscle.
We can discuss the statistics and dig deep into the Sabermetrics, but at the end of the day it comes down to the intangibles. In a clutch situation, which player would you prefer at the plate?
I’ll take Albert Pujols every day and twice on Sunday.
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Bill B. on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 12:20
Oh, no you didn’t! You did not just mention intangibles… did you?
If I could, I’d crumple up this blog and throw it in the trash.
I kid. However, the Sabermetrics find that Pujols is not clutch. He has a Clutch score of -0.01, between Nate McLouth’s 0.00 and Troy Glaus’ -0.02.
(FanGraphs)
MoonDog on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 12:59
Yes - intangibles baby! I knew you’d bring the sabermetrics into this.
Let’s look at it this way. If Pujols blows out his elbow, do the Cards have a realistic chance at making the playoffs?
Now, if Utley is injured and has to miss the rest of the season, do the Phillies have a chance at making the playoffs?
Offer your thoughts on those scenarios.
And I don’t want to forget Berkman. I really like the guy and he’s having a great year. But let’s face it, voters tend to lean towards players that are on winning teams, especially teams that make the playoffs.
If the Cards and Phillies make the playoffs and if Utley and Pujols continue their respective paces, I’m taking Pujols.
Tell me if you think Utley would get more MVP votes than Pujols.
NESW Sports Headlines 6/30/2008 | NESW Sports, The Best Sports News on Mon, 30th Jun 2008 20:47
[...] Pujols is the man! No Diggety No Doubt! Moondog Sports [...]
tophatal on Tue, 1st Jul 2008 12:18
Moon Dog
Having Pujols back on the Cardinals’ roster only makes this team succinctly better. And if anything it sends shockwaves across the NL .
If there’s a guy to be feared when he’s at the plate for an NL team. Then he’s the one !
With him anything is possible and always is when he’s at the plate.
tophatal ………….