King Albert Strikes Again
Is the National League MVP race even a race? Any other year, I would say that Florida Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez would win the award in a landslide with the type of season he is having. However, there is another player who is putting up Triple Crown numbers, along with good defense and his team is going to the playoffs.
Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals has been a perennial MVP candidate since breaking through to the big leagues in 2001. Every year he puts up huge offensive numbers while playing good defense at first base. The reigning MVP is in the top three in hitting and RBIs, while leading the majors in homeruns.
King Albert also walks a ton and doesn’t strike out much. He also has played in almost every one of the Cardinals games, choosing repetition over rest. Pujols has been an All-Star every year except in 2002, when he had his lowest batting average of .314.
Pujols has never struck out 100 times in a single season and has never hit less than 30 HR in a season. Pujols is looking for his 3rd NL MVP trophy after winning it in 2005 and 2008. It is expected for Pujols to be a unanimous selection for the MVP award, though there is discussion on who will come in second. As I mentioned, Hanley Ramirez is having a great year. He has kept the Marlins in the Wild Card race until the last week of the season.
After winning the NL Rookie of the Year award in 2006, Ramirez has not hit less than .300 in a season. He was an All-Star in 2008 and 2009, while also winning a Silver Slugger last year. This may be Ramirez’ best year yet. Ryan Howard is a typical second half player.
The last three years, Howard has gotten hot in August and September to carry the Philadelphia Phillies into the postseason. This year he his hitting .298 after the All-Star break with 21 HR and 70 RBIs, while also cutting down on the strikeouts. Howard’s biggest flaws since making it into the majors have been his defense at first base and his strikeouts.
This past offseason, Howard worked on his defense (and lost weight) and became more flexible. His strikeouts are well behind strikeout leader Mark Reynolds (Howard has 186 on 10/1), when they are normally fighting for the strikeout title. Howard has also only missed one game this season, when he was in the hospital with flu-like symptoms, ending the longest active streak in the majors at 343 consecutive games played.
Pablo Sandoval of the San Francisco Giants has been the lone bright spot in a dismal offensive lineup. “Kung Fu Panda” has garnered a lot of attention for his nickname and gained fan support for his hustle and smiling attitude. Despite moving from behind the plate to third base, his offensive numbers have not deteriorated. Coming from Double-A Connecticut in 2008, Sandoval has impressed in his first full season.
The switch hitter had carried the Giants into postseason contention after last season’s dismal showing, proving all sportswriters wrong. Andre Ethier of the Los Angeles Dodgers has been consistent all season long, despite missing Manny Ramirez in the middle of the lineup protecting him. Ethier has been clutch all year, with 6 walk-off hits (4 homers) which leads the majors.
Even Joe Torre, who has seen his fair share of dramatic moments, said “it’s just surreal” how Ethier has repeatedly lifted the Dodgers to victory in the final inning. This left-handed bat will need to be clutch again if the Dodgers want to make it to the World Series (or at least win the NL West).
Who should win: Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals
156G/ 158 .330 (2nd) 47 HR (1st) 134 RBI (3rd)
43 doubles (3rd) 16 SB 112 BB/ 63 K .445 OBP
Who will win: Pujols
Sleepers: Hanley Ramirez, Florida Marlins
150 G/ 159 .341 (1st) 24 HR 105 RBI
41 doubles 26 SB 61 BB/101 K .410 OBP
Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies
157 G/ 158 .275 43 HR (4th) 138 RBI (1st)
37 doubles 73 BB/ 186 K .357 OBP
Pablo Sandoval, SF Giants
149 G/ 158 .328 (3rd) 23 HR 87 RBI
44 doubles (2nd) 50 BB/ 81 K .385 OBP
Andre Ethier, LA Dodgers
157 G/159 .271 31 HR 105 RBI
41 doubles 69 BB/ 115 K .357 OBP
Tags:
No Comments »
No comments yet.
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL
Recent Comments