Ryan Howard is no Albert Pujols
Somewhere over the past month, I remember seeing a column or a poll or something on ESPN.com that asked, "Who would you rather have to start a franchise: Ryan Howard or Albert Pujols?" Pujols is the better player and always will be. The reason is strikeouts. 175 strikeouts for Howard this year? Come on! Albert Pujols didn't reach 175 strikeouts in his career until year 3!
I was interested in how this played out for their clutch hitting, one of the great marks of a valuable player (See David Ortiz). Thankfully, Yahoo breaks down situational stats in their profiles for each hitter. Here's how Howard and Pujols match up in some key situations.
First, we'll look at their first full year. For Howard, that's this year. For Pujols, that was his rookie year, 2001. It was the only year Albert had more than 70 strikeouts (he had 93).
Sophomore year...
Runners in Scoring Position
Pujols: 174 AB, 10HR, 93RBI, 28K, .310
Howard: 159 AB, 12HR, 80RBI, 55K, .252
Runners in Scoring Position, w/ 2 outs
Pujols: 72AB, 5HR, 39RBI, 11K, .333
Howard: 76 AB, 5HR, 32RBI, 23K, .237
Those strikeouts loom large against Howard. And they play a fair part in that huge average discrepancy. Think a little bit beyond those numbers. With runners in scoring position, Howard strikes out a third of the time: he doesn't even move the runners over. In the same position, Pujols at least got a hit almost a third of the time.
With 2 outs and runners in scoring position, Howard ends the end more than 3/4 of the time. Pujols ends the inning only 2/3 of the time.
Just to blow your mind, here's Pujols numbers in the same spots from this year. I'll remind you that he's only 26-years-old, the same age as Howard right now. I'll leave Howard's numbers up for comparison
This year...
Runners in Scoring Position
Pujols: 122AB, 12HR, 82RBI, 10K, .393
Howard: 159 AB, 12HR, 80RBI, 55K, .252
Runners in Scoring Position, w/ 2 outs
Pujols: 43AB, 4HR, 31RBI, 4K, .442
Howard: 76 AB, 5HR, 32RBI, 23K, .237
Unbelievable. Here's how I see it. At best, Ryan Howard is going to have McGwire numbers. At best, Albert Pujols is going to have Albert Pujols numbers.
I was interested in how this played out for their clutch hitting, one of the great marks of a valuable player (See David Ortiz). Thankfully, Yahoo breaks down situational stats in their profiles for each hitter. Here's how Howard and Pujols match up in some key situations.
First, we'll look at their first full year. For Howard, that's this year. For Pujols, that was his rookie year, 2001. It was the only year Albert had more than 70 strikeouts (he had 93).
Sophomore year...
Runners in Scoring Position
Pujols: 174 AB, 10HR, 93RBI, 28K, .310
Howard: 159 AB, 12HR, 80RBI, 55K, .252
Runners in Scoring Position, w/ 2 outs
Pujols: 72AB, 5HR, 39RBI, 11K, .333
Howard: 76 AB, 5HR, 32RBI, 23K, .237
Those strikeouts loom large against Howard. And they play a fair part in that huge average discrepancy. Think a little bit beyond those numbers. With runners in scoring position, Howard strikes out a third of the time: he doesn't even move the runners over. In the same position, Pujols at least got a hit almost a third of the time.
With 2 outs and runners in scoring position, Howard ends the end more than 3/4 of the time. Pujols ends the inning only 2/3 of the time.
Just to blow your mind, here's Pujols numbers in the same spots from this year. I'll remind you that he's only 26-years-old, the same age as Howard right now. I'll leave Howard's numbers up for comparison
This year...
Runners in Scoring Position
Pujols: 122AB, 12HR, 82RBI, 10K, .393
Howard: 159 AB, 12HR, 80RBI, 55K, .252
Runners in Scoring Position, w/ 2 outs
Pujols: 43AB, 4HR, 31RBI, 4K, .442
Howard: 76 AB, 5HR, 32RBI, 23K, .237
Unbelievable. Here's how I see it. At best, Ryan Howard is going to have McGwire numbers. At best, Albert Pujols is going to have Albert Pujols numbers.
posted by Prof. A at 8:12 AM
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