Hey, Don’t Forget About Me!
Scorching starts from unexpected players are great for the game of baseball as they remind us anything can happen. Who expected Edinson Volquez to jump out of the gate like this? Similarly, insane starts from usually great players often hog the media spotlight as well (See: Lance Berkman, Chipper Jones, Chase Utley). One thing in common for both of these groups is that they obstruct our knowledge or view of great players off to great—albeit not insane—starts.
That’s where Albert Pujols comes in. Arguably the best offensive player in the game today, Pujols has seemingly been lost in the shuffle this season. Perhaps I’ve been watching too many House MD reruns instead of ESPN but, if I recall correctly, the only times Pujols has really been seen in-depth on the channel are when he almost fought Brandon Backe and when he single-handedly took out the Padres battery.
If he was posting average or below average numbers this might make more sense, but, as of right now, Pujols currently has a .366/.486/.644 slash line, a 1.130 OPS, and 14 HR-39 RBI. Could the problem be that consistency is boring? We know Pujols will perform at a high level so it isn’t as meaningful as it would be if, say, Ryan Ludwick was off to a really hot start? As odd as it may be, the consistency=boring aspect of fandom is very true. Not to say fans don’t appreciate the performance but the unexpected players performing great seem to bring the spontaneity that sparks excitement.
So, in honor of the still-just-28 yrs old Pujols, here are his current ranks:
5th in WPA, 2.49
3rd in BA, .366
2nd in OBP, .486
4th in SLG, .644
3rd in OPS, 1.130
3rd in BRAA, 27.72
2nd in REW, 2.75
2nd in WPA/LI, 2.82
1st in BB, 47
Pujols ranks in the top five, in all of baseball, in these categories and, not surprisingly, those in front of him in many of them are: Chipper Jones, Lance Berkman, Chase Utley, and Josh Hamilton. It’s human nature to like the other stories better than Pujols’s hot start but do not mistake him not being featured in magazines and television shows as often with a decline in performance. He’s still Albert Pujols and, if his BB and K rates are any type of indicator, he’s still improving.
Eric is an accountant and statistical analyst from Philadelphia. He also covers the Phillies at Phillies Nation and can be found here on Twitter.
Albert was jobbed out of the MVP in 2006 because of his consistency. It went to Howard with his spectacular HR and RBI totals, ignoring the fact that Howard hit barely over .200 w/RISP…he just happened to have many more opportunities than Pujols. As a Cardinals fan I have gotten used to El Hombre being overlooked. The same thing happened to Henry Aaron in his career.
Nick, I definitely agree with that. Pujols went from being jobbed because of Barry Bonds winning the MVP to not winning because we just expect him to do this.
It’s the reason I hate the Coach of the Yr/Manager of the Yr awards; all they do is reward those who have big turnarounds.
There is a reason Albert is in the top5 of the voting every year…and a reason he has only won once. His expected level of production is so high that when he meets his expected levels the voters say, “just a good not great year” even though Albert’s standard line is MVP material. Voters seemed to be wowed by unexpected performance. I agree that the Mgr of the Year award is the same way. What’s funny is that this phenomenon does not hold true for the Cy Young award. It seems that consistent performance over a number of years gets rewarded by the Cy Young voters.
Thus, despite the torrid starts by Utley and Berkman, there is Albert right on their tail in all the major categories. Also, the Cards lineup is not nearly as potent as either the Astros or Phillies. Oh and by every advanced defensive metric Albert is not only one of the top 1B but one of the best defensive players at any position.
Nick,
It was the same way with Greg Maddux… he put together 5-6 consecutive seasons that were some of the best pitched seasons ever but, in 1998, when he went 18-9 with a 2.22 ERA, it wasn’t as good as the standard he had set and he finished 4th in voting. Oddly enough, 1998 was actually the only year in his career that he struck out 200+ batters.
It’s funny that you mention Berkman as taking away from Pujols because, to me, they’re BOTH severely underrated. I think Utley is perfectly rated as he is far and away in a league of his own at 2B and only Pujols is giving him a run as the best non-pitcher in the NL.
Still, though, Berkman is usually in the top 5 or 10 in most offensive categories and it took this torrid start to get him noticed.
But, overall, I agree with you. You get so used to a level of production that it becomes the norm, no matter how amazing it is. While Allen Iverson amazed me each and every night there were plenty of Philadelphia fans that took him for granted because they saw it all the time. They expected him to perform like that and didn’t realize that a slight off night for him was still more productive than an on night for most others.
I only mentioned Berkman because he is this years “hot property”. As a Cardinals fan he is not underrated by me. I have seen what a great hitter he has been year in and year out. I agree that Berkman has been consistently underrated over the past few years. Utley is truly a great player and is far and away the best 2B in baseball. Even taking into account his injury last year, he was still the best player on the Phillies and would have been a much more deserving recipient of the MVP than Jimmy “I led the league in outs” Rollins. I mentioned him because his start has been unreal.
Again, both of these players bat in far better lineups than Pujols. Oh and Pujols only has one healthy elbow ligament.
Pujols really did deserve the 2006 MVP award. But I guess RBIs and HRs are more important than “winning”.
On PTI yesterday Michael Wilbon flat out said that the most important stat in baseball is RBIs and I quote: “more than SLG and all these creative stats.” I happen to enjoy Wilbon’s commentary, but he should stay far far away from baseball statistics if these are the kind of comments he’s going to make.
It’s not really a mystery why the MVP voting is total crap.
I wholeheartedly agree Pujols deserved the MVP but not for the reason he, himself quoted. He said he should’ve because the Cardinals made the playoffs and the Phillies didn’t. Yet, the Phillies had a better record in a tougher division and the Cardinals snuck into the playoffs after almost collapsing out of it.
Pujols had a better all around year and deserved the award, regardless of Howard’s HR and RBI total but not because the Cards made the playoffs and Phils didn’t.
Though on the same token it could be argued that his key HR in game 158 or whatever it was propelled the Cards into the playoffs.
Either way he deserved the award but it’s not to say the Cards were a better team than the Phillies in the sense that one won 90 games and the other won 80; the Cards were 83-78, Phils 85-77.
Eric – I agree that Pujols did not deserve to win b/c the Cards went to the playoffs and the Phils did not. RISP stats from 2006:
Pujols 2006:
170 PA, .397/.535/.802 1.337, 238OPS+ (Only 10 strikeouts!)
Howard 2006:
223 PA, .256/.426/.518 .944, 141OPS+ (56 Strikeouts)