Will Albert get his due?

After one of the best offensive series I can remember, I'm hopeful that Pujols will now take his rightful spot at the top of the MVP candidate list. For whatever reason, it doesn't seem like the media is giving him the usual love this year. Here's some stats for you: BA. .359 - 1st in NL and MLB, OBP .467 - 1st, SLG - .639 - 1st, OPS 1.106 - 1st by a mile. He's tied for 7th in both HRs and doubles. Tenth in RBIs. Only 14th in runs, which is down for him I admit. Still, when you add up all the major stats, and the fact that the Cards are contending when everyone thought they wouldn't be, I'm not sure why there's even a debat here. Chipper Jones, Utley, Berkman, David Wright, and Ryan Braun are probably the other big candidates. The only categories any of them lead Albert in by a large margin are RBIs and runs. I can think of two other reasons Albert may not be getting enough pub. 1. Ryan Ludwick. He's having a great year and his power numbers, which unfortunately, people seem to look at the most, are superior to Albert's. 2. Albert gets pitched around so much. After his first two at bats yesterday, the Braves didn't even think about giving him a pitch to hit, not that I blame them. Really, the two times they get him out in the series, he still smashed the ball, but a fielder made a diving catch to rob him. Getting so few pitches to hit and taking so many walks has dropped his RBIs and HRs I have no doubt. What he should get credit for, however, is adjusting his approach to hit for contact since he is not seeing many good pitches. I was watching the Braves' telecast because I was in Memphis this weekend and the color guy erroneously pointed out that Albert rarely goes to right field because he is a pull hitter. Pujols preceded to double to right two of his first three at bats while going up the middle for the other hit. Albert has ALWAYS been probably the best power hitter in baseball when it comes to going with the pitch. That commentator was just plain an idiot. Listen, we all know who the best player in the game is. It just infuriates me too see others fail to recognize that fact. Hopefully, Albert will continue to have a huge stretch run and set all the doubters straight.



-Trey