The Hotter Rock

Yesterday, Dave laid out the case for Troy Tulowitzki and the National League Most Valuable Player award. While Dave’s case went deeper than Tulowitzki’s September, there is a case to be made that he’s only the second best Rockies’ offensive player over the last 30 days, and that makes him the second best offensive player in the league over that span.

If one is willing to extend their arbitrary timeline beyond the design of a calendar and into the length of most months instead, then Carlos Gonzalez’s name perches atop their wOBA leaderboard. Gonzalez’s line lists at .436/.513/.792, whereas Tulowitzki sits at only .343/.412/.843. Their wOBA are .535 and .522, respectively, and their BABIP at .481 and .292. The last point is crucial since it tells us a bit about how the pair differ. Just about every other ball Gonzalez puts in play is going for a hit.

Tulowitzki’s ISO is an incredible .500 and Gonzalez’s is only .356. For perspective, Barry Bonds’ career ISO is .309 and his 2001 season (when he hit 73 home runs, not that anyone needs reminding) ISO sat at .536. Both are bringing the pop, with Tulowitzki bringing it in a 24-pack as opposed to Gonzalez’s one liter. Not too shabby considering Tulowitzki has double the amount of home runs that Gonzalez has.

One factor that should be noted is that Gonzalez has four intentional walks over the last 30 days. That would be two more than Tulowitzki, who bats after Gonzalez, which sort of goes against intuitive thinking. After all, Tulowitzki is the guy hitting everything into other galaxies while Gonzalez is only hitting balls out of this orbit. Those free passes do help Gonzalez’s wOBA, which skews his lead just a bit.

Nevertheless, the Rockies have the National League’s best hitter over the last 30 days. And they have the second best hitter, too. The order is mostly moot.