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A Strong Argument for the NL MVP

Migrant Redbird

By Migrant Redbird
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Lt Melmo Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

Lt Melmo

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I think Pujols had the best season, but if I had a vote I would give it to Manny. The guy hitting is unreal right now. A line of .398 /.491/.757 .

Turn it the other way around. Say Manny started the season with the Dodgers, had 200 at-bats of .398/.491/.757 ball, and then was traded to the Red Sox and hit .299/.398/.529 in 365 at-bats. The Dodgers go to the playoffs. Do you give him the NL MVP?

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TyCobb Perennial All-Star

TyCobb

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Turn it the other way around. Say Manny started the season with the Dodgers, had 200 at-bats of .398/.491/.757 ball, and then was traded to the Red Sox and hit .299/.398/.529 in 365 at-bats. The Dodgers go to the playoffs. Do you give him the NL MVP?

Probably not because it would be harder to tell if the Manny start got the Dodgers into the playoffs or not.

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Lt Melmo Major Leaguer Cup of Coffee

Lt Melmo

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No not at all, but there are less games you can possible win at the end than the beginning.

No idea what you're trying to say here.

Let's also say that the Dodgers started the season 29-22 (as they did after Manny) and then played .500 ball for the rest of the year (as they did before Manny). Do you give it to him?

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Migrant Redbird All-Star

Migrant Redbird

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Does anyone remember the pre-2007 season? There was a decently hot topic on ESPN that I never forgot about: it was just following Pujols' 49-homer campaign at age 26, and there was talk of 2007 being the year that he "breaks out." I remember one pundit saying, "Well, he won't hit eighty home runs, but he will break 73."

I'm still thinking something like this will happen one year, following his surgery. I'll probably be disappointed if he doesn't hit 60+ one of these years.

Pujols consistently insists that he's not a "home run hitter"; he's just a "line drive hitter" whose line drives occasionally get elevated enough to clear the fence.

I don't recall anyone ever playing a shift against Pujols. He will take the outside pitch and go with it to the opposite field, which I would speculate ought to give him an advantage over a strictly pull hitter like Ryan Howard (which the stats don't verify). Pujols also will extend his strike zone sometimes in an attempt to drive in a run that wouldn't score on a walk. While many managers -- in the NL at least -- will say that Pujols is the hitter they fear most -- this will be the first season in which he's walked over 100 times.

Just out of curiosity, I looked up some comparative statistics at The Hardball Times on Pujols, Howard, Chipper Jones, and Alex Rodriguez. One thing which surprised me a little bit was that Albert's claim of being a "line drive hitter" doesn't really stand up by comparison with Howard and Jones, but then A-Rod's line drive percentage was even lower than Albert's. I won't pretend that I know what that means, though. I provide the tables below only for information, without making any claim for their significance. One point which should be noted though, is that 2004 and 2005 were partial seasons for Howard, so only his 2006-2008 stats should be compared with the others.

          Runs CreatedYear  Pujols Howard Jones A-Rod2004    143      7    85   1112005    142     50    77   1382006    150    138    93   1172007    123    117   117   1602008    136    113   104    93
       Line Drive PercentageYear  Pujols Howard  Jones  A-Rod 2004   17.3%  19.2%  15.1%  15.5%2005   20.2%  26.6%  23.0%  15.6%2006   18.0%  21.9%  19.3%  18.1%2007   18.6%  24.3%  19.2%  16.9%2008   21.9%  22.4%  24.1%  18.1%
             BA/BIP Year  Pujols Howard Jones  A-Rod  2004   .298   .375   .246   .3082005   .316   .354   .300   .3472006   .292   .356   .339   .3262007   .317   .328   .348   .3092008   .338   .280   .384   .324
             BA/RISP Year  Pujols Howard Jones  A-Rod    2004   .343   .364   .267   .2482005   .329   .241   .286   .2902006   .397   .256   .284   .3022007   .331   .282   .310   .3302008   .333   .312   .299   .259
            "Clutch"Year  Pujols Howard Jones  A-Rod2004    0.8    1.0    2.5   -5.32005    0.9   -4.7   -0.9   -8.82006   13.7   -7.8   -0.1    3.22007   -2.5    7.7   -2.6    9.82008   -2.2   13.1   -9.7  -12.9
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