Is Pujols going to hit 50 home runs? 48?

Mickey71 · August 26, 2009 7:58AM

He seems to be fading as the season drags on. Is he hurt? I know his overall numbers are still great; but he was having a legendary season at the break- not anymore.

joestalin · August 26, 2009 8:02AM

Did the same thing last year. Howard is your man if you are looking for MVP's

cwazzy · August 26, 2009 8:08AM

<< Did the same thing last year. Howard is your man if you are looking for MVP's >>

Uh... No.

digicat · August 26, 2009 8:11AM

Splits:

.337 avg, .457 obp, .675 slg: March/April
.341 avg, .447 obp, .682 slg: May
.320 avg, .427 obp, .856 slg: June
.289 avg, .415 obp, .485 slg: July
.299 avg, .426 obp, .623 slg: August

July was a bad month for him, but he seems to be recovering. I don't think 50 hrs is out of the question yet.

Just looking at the numbers, I'd venture to say that he's already locked up the 2009 NL MVP award.

fandango · August 26, 2009 9:03AM

its called the HR derby.....

it regularly ZAPS the 2nd half power numbers of man of the participants.....

i agree, the MVP is locked up.......Howard is not even the MVP of his team!!!!!!!!

joestalin · August 26, 2009 9:49AM

<< its called the HR derby.....

it regularly ZAPS the 2nd half power numbers of man of the participants.....

i agree, the MVP is locked up.......Howard is not even the MVP of his team!!!!!!!! >>

yet

BassPro77 · August 26, 2009 9:57AM

<< 

<< its called the HR derby.....

it regularly ZAPS the 2nd half power numbers of man of the participants.....

yeah because he hit SO MANY this year.
i'd be tired to

digicat · August 26, 2009 10:56AM

<< it regularly ZAPS the 2nd half power numbers of man of the participants..... >>

Pujols - 1st half SLG%/ 2nd half SLG%
2008 - .608/.706 +
2007 - .516/.631 + (Derby Participant)
2006 - .703/.642 -
2005 - .620/.599 -
2004 - .599/.721 +
2003 - .690/.634 - (Derby Participant)
2002 - .579/.541 -
2001 - .594/.628 +

I think there's something to be said for the fact that guys just start getting more tired in the 2nd half.

CrimsonTider · August 26, 2009 11:13AM

He is due another cycle, that should get him over 50

DaBeef · August 26, 2009 2:33PM

I say yes, mid 50's 55 to be exact.

JackWESQ · August 26, 2009 4:17PM

<< He is due another cycle >>

Another cycle? Has Pujols EVER hit for the cycle? Oh, you mean THAT cycle.

/s/ JackWESQ

bman90278 · August 26, 2009 10:05PM

<< He is due another cycle, that should get him over 50 >>

Another hater making a meaningless comment.

Brian

cwazzy · August 26, 2009 11:21PM

<< 

<< He is due another cycle, that should get him over 50 >>

Another hater making a meaningless comment.

Brian >>

Funny. I took that as he's due for another hot streak the first time I read it. And I would have to agree that he's going to get very hot to finish the season.

larryallen73 · August 27, 2009 4:05AM

The home run derby excuse is a bit of reach to me. The guy just slowed down a little. He's actually HUMAN. Still great numbers and another MVP. As for the cycle talk... I honestly thought they meant he would get hot again. However, that other cycle is a possibility I suppose.

gumbyfan · August 27, 2009 12:38PM

<< its called the HR derby.....

it regularly ZAPS the 2nd half power numbers of man of the participants..... >>

Yeah...

April: 77 AB, 7 R, 18 H, 5 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 17 RBI, 17 BB, 3 HBP, 27 SO, 0 SB, 0 CS, .234 BA, .384 OBP, .442 SLG, .826 OPS
May: 95 AB, 20 R, 29 H, 2 2B, 0 3B, 9 HR, 31 RBI, 23 BB, 1 HBP, 23 SO, 0 SB, 0 CS, .305 BA, .442 OBP, .611 SLG, 1.053 OPS
June: 102 AB, 20 R, 37 H, 12 2B, 1 3B, 8 HR, 26 RBI, 14 BB, 2 HBP, 15 SO, 0 SB, 1 CS, .363 BA, .442 OBP, .735 SLG, 1.177 OPS
July: 92 AB, 19 R, 29 H, 6 2B, 0 3B, 5 HR, 17 RBI, 19 BB, 1 HBP, 25 SO, 1 SB, 1 CS, .315 BA, .434 OBP, .543 SLG, .977 OPS
August: 94 AB, 12 R, 27 H, 2 2B, 0 3B, 9 HR, 21 RBI, 11 BB, 1 HBP, 17 SO, 1 SB, 1 CS, .287 BA, .364 OBP, .596 SLG, .960 OPS

Not a lot of drop off for the HR Derby CHAMP. Shall we compare All-Star Game numbers?

All-Star: 1 AB, 0 R, 1 H, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 0 BB, 0 HBP, 0 SO, 0 SB, 0 CS, 1.000 BA, 1.000 OBP, 2.000 SLG, 3.000 OPS

All-Star: 3 AB, 0 R, 0 H, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 0 BB, 0 HBP, 0 SO, 0 SB, 0 CS, .000 BA, .000 OBP, .000 SLG, .000 OPS

Who booted a ball in the AS game to allow the American League to score 2 runs? Again, the person who has been pre-ordained by many as the shoe-in for MVP. Compare his full season numbers to those of Prince and it's more of a contest than many would think.

Pujols: 127 G, 445 AB, 99 R, 141 H, 32 2B, 1 3B, 40 HR, 107 RBI, 96 BB, 55 SO, 13 SB, 4 CS, .317 BA, .441 OBP, .663 SLG, 1.104 OPS
Fielder: 127 G, 463 AB, 79 R, 141 H, 27 2B, 2 3B, 35 HR, 115 RBI, 85 BB, 108 SO, 2 SB, 3 CS, .305 BA, .416 OBP, .598 SLG, 1.014 OPS

Pujols is on a team full of high level talent, including Matt Holliday protecting him.

Fielder and Braun and a cast of role players on the Brewers for the majority of the year. Who has been protecting Fielder? Casey McGehee? Mike Cameron? Come on.

Pujols is the biggest star on a team of stars.

Fielder is one of few stars on a team of role players...and he's carried the team. Without Fielder, the Brewers are 15-20 games below at this point.

fandango · August 27, 2009 10:21PM

wrong thread, this was "will pujols hit 50", not if he will win MVP....

Pujols bashers jump in ANYWHERE....

i hope he doesnt hit 50.....

ALL modern players who hit 50 ARE ON STEROIDS

larryallen73 · August 28, 2009 12:30AM

ALL modern players who hit 50 ARE ON STEROIDS

I know you are joking but you shouldn't say stuff like that as people might bring it back against you when he does hit 50.

gumbyfan · August 28, 2009 1:14AM

<< wrong thread, this was "will pujols hit 50", not if he will win MVP....

Pujols bashers jump in ANYWHERE....

i hope he doesnt hit 50.....

ALL modern players who hit 50 ARE ON STEROIDS >>

Not the wrong thread. You said home run derby participants fall off in the second half. I showed you stats to prove otherwise.

cwazzy · August 28, 2009 1:21AM

<< Pujols is on a team full of high level talent, including Matt Holliday protecting him.

Fielder and Braun and a cast of role players on the Brewers for the majority of the year. Who has been protecting Fielder? Casey McGehee? Mike Cameron? Come on.

Pujols is the biggest star on a team of stars. >>

I agree that Fielder is having a great year. But what I do disagree with is the comments about Pujols being a team filled with talent. That is the case now, and has been since the All-Star Game. But at the beginning of the year who else was on the team that was helping him out? Ludwick? Ankiel? Molina? Oh, I know, Brian Barden. None of them could hit the ball for the first couple of months.

Pujols put up his gaudy numbers during the first half of the season, when the Cardinals didn't have anyone hitting other than him. I would venture to say that the Brewers having Braun and Fielder were in a much better position at the beginning of the year. And you're also forgetting that at the beginning of the year Cameron was one of the hottest hitters in baseball. Sure he's cooled off but there for awhile he was tearing the cover off of the ball.

gumbyfan · August 28, 2009 2:17AM

<< 

<< Pujols is on a team full of high level talent, including Matt Holliday protecting him.

Fielder and Braun and a cast of role players on the Brewers for the majority of the year. Who has been protecting Fielder? Casey McGehee? Mike Cameron? Come on.

Pujols is the biggest star on a team of stars. >>

I agree that Fielder is having a great year. But what I do disagree with is the comments about Pujols being a team filled with talent. That is the case now, and has been since the All-Star Game. But at the beginning of the year who else was on the team that was helping him out? Ludwick? Ankiel? Molina? Oh, I know, Brian Barden. None of them could hit the ball for the first couple of months.

Pujols put up his gaudy numbers during the first half of the season, when the Cardinals didn't have anyone hitting other than him. I would venture to say that the Brewers having Braun and Fielder were in a much better position at the beginning of the year. And you're also forgetting that at the beginning of the year Cameron was one of the hottest hitters in baseball. Sure he's cooled off but there for awhile he was tearing the cover off of the ball. >>

FINALLY! Someone who responds with actual discussion instead of dismissing someone's comments as haterade. Thank you Chris.

I agree that the Brewers having Braun & Fielder were in a much better position. However, the benefit came to Braun because he was pitched to more often than not because Prince was on deck. Fielder has had a rotating door of players hitting behind him this season - Corey Hart, Casey McGehee, Mike Cameron, JJ Hardy, etc.

However, I would disagree with your view about Cameron. He had a terrific April, but he's been less than stellar since then. Here are his splits:

April: 72 AB, 12 R, 24 H, 9 2B, 0 3B, 5 HR, 15 RBI, 13 BB, 0 HBP, 14 SO, 2 SB, 0 CS, .333 AVG, .430 OBP, .667 SLG, 1.097 OPS
May: 97 AB, 13 R, 24 H, 3 2B, 0 3B, 6 HR, 12 RBI, 14 BB, 0 HBP, 26 SO, 0 SB, 0 CS, .247 AVG, .339 OBP, .464 SLG, .803 OPS
June: 85 AB, 9 R, 13 H, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 6 RBI, 17 BB, 1 HBP, 31 SO, 2 SB, 1 CS, .153 AVG, .301 OBP, .235 SLG, .536 OPS
July: 85 AB, 14 R, 26 H, 6 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 12 RBI, 13 BB, 0 HBP, 21 SO, 0 SB, 2 CS, .306 AVG, .390 OBP, .506 SLG, .896 OPS
August: 95 AB, 14 R, 25 H, 5 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 11 RBI, 12 BB, 1 HBP, 33 SO, 2 SB, 0 CS, .263 AVG, .352 OBP, .463 SLG, .815 OPS

Pujols didn't have much better protecting him in the first half, which does make his first half numbers amazing! Now that he has Matt Holliday protecting him in the lineup, Pujols' numbers have taken a dip. Maybe that's just his mid-30's catching up with him?

Will he hit 50 homers? I doubt it. He'd have to go on a tear and I just don't think he has it in the tank.

As for fandango's comment that

<< ALL modern players who hit 50 ARE ON STEROIDS >>

, I assume he's referencing Prince Fielder's 50 home run season at the age of 23...the youngest ever to do so. I don't think he's on steroids. I sure hope he's not. However, if he is I would be very disappointed in him. Unlike fandango, though, my whole world wouldn't come crashing in around me if that turns out to be the case.

After all, it's just baseball.

digicat · August 28, 2009 4:01AM

<< Not a lot of drop off for the HR Derby CHAMP. >>

A while back I looked into the differences in 1st half SLG% and 2nd half SLG% for the HR Derby winners. I figured that the guy who won the thing would have probably worked a little harder than the majority of the other guys in it. Most of the time, there's a drop between 1st half SLG% and 2nd half SLG% for the Derby champs. Obviously, there are a few exceptions, but MOST guys experience a drop off.

However, to really get into these stats, I'd need to figure out the 1st half vs 2nd half trends of these guys when they were NOT in the HR Derby, and I'm just not bored enough to do that. Anyone want to take that on?

thunderpower · August 28, 2009 5:59AM

You guys make it sound like a great MVP race. I had no idea that Fielder was so close to Pujols in statistics. It will be interesting to see how the season plays out. Maybe Fielder can finish strong and beat out Pujols for the MVP. That would be something after that very strong start exhibited by Pujols. It sure does not look as if Pujols will get that triple crown that was discussed in another thread on here. Too bad to waste such a nice start to a season.

fandango · August 29, 2009 5:46AM

another game winning hit!!!! 9th inning dinger!!!!

last week he had the only rbi in a 1-0 game and the defensive gem of the night to seal the win in the 9th!

MVP MVP MVP

AMAZING should have 7 MVP if not for BONDZ

MBMiller25 · August 29, 2009 10:10AM

He didnt look tired last night when he turned that pitch around.

gumbyfan · August 30, 2009 1:56AM

<< another game winning hit!!!! 9th inning dinger!!!!

last week he had the only rbi in a 1-0 game and the defensive gem of the night to seal the win in the 9th!

MVP MVP MVP

AMAZING should have 7 MVP if not for BONDZ >>

I'll repeat what I said to cwazzy...

<< FINALLY! Someone who responds with actual discussion instead of dismissing someone's comments as haterade. Thank you Chris. >>

The uneducated among us (see: fandango) are unable to do just that, apparently.

Hoopster · August 30, 2009 6:02AM

<< 

<< Not a lot of drop off for the HR Derby CHAMP. >>

A while back I looked into the differences in 1st half SLG% and 2nd half SLG% for the HR Derby winners. I figured that the guy who won the thing would have probably worked a little harder than the majority of the other guys in it. Most of the time, there's a drop between 1st half SLG% and 2nd half SLG% for the Derby champs. Obviously, there are a few exceptions, but MOST guys experience a drop off.

However, to really get into these stats, I'd need to figure out the 1st half vs 2nd half trends of these guys when they were NOT in the HR Derby, and I'm just not bored enough to do that. Anyone want to take that on? >>

The one thing you are overlooking is WHY the player is in the HR derby for that season to begin with.

A guy is in the HR derby because he had a great start to the season. In other words, he got selected after experiencing a couple of hot hitting months. For the rest of the season he will most likely revert to his norm.

When a guy like Josh Hamilton hits out of his gord for the first half of the season, Home Run derby or not, he is going to experience a fall back to reality(his norm) as the season wears on.

These guys that started off hot are naturally going to cool down.

Mickey71 · September 29, 2009 5:47AM

TTT

sayheykid54 · September 29, 2009 6:25AM

Did the same thing last year. Howard is your man if you are looking for MVP's

IMO there's no comparison. Pujols is by far the better player, hands down.

Howard strikes out so much it's almost as if he's swinging with his eyes closed.

StanTheManMusial · September 29, 2009 1:01PM

In 2008, Pujols was hitting .350/18/50 through 90 games at the All Star break. He ended up at .357/37/116.

In 2009, the All Star Game has really taken a toll on Albert, as he has finally admitted here:

Pujols speaks

Still, the guy has managed to reach 47 homeruns, with 133 RBI's up to this point. And that is with 44 intentional walks, that have literally taken many RBI's right out of his hands. I can't tell you how many of the intentional walks were with guys on 2nd and 3rd with less than 2 outs. Of those 44 IBBs, Pujols could have easily had another 15-20 RBI's or more.. He is hitting over .600 with the bases loaded this season, 10/16 with 35 RBI's. 5 grand slams mixed in there, so enough said.

MVP's and on winning teams is what builds a legendary legacy. Pujols is about to take home his 3rd MVP, and his team has went to the playoffs in 6 of Pujols' first 9 seasons, including 2 World Series(and a ring).

Let's not forget the .334 career average, 366 homeruns, 1,110 RBI's, and a career slugging % well over .600 in his first 9 seasons. Just simply amazing..

No wonder Albert Pujols was the Sporting News' MLB Athlete of the Decade:

AWARD

Pujols making his mark on MLB history

EDIT: to fix link

Is Pujols going to hit 50 home runs? 48?

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