These two first basemen have simply torn it up this season in their respective leagues. Detroit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera is second in batting average, fourth in homeruns, first in RBI, and first in OBP in the American League. St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols is fifth in batting average, second in home runs, first in RBI, and third in OBP. So, who is the better player this season?
On a purely statistical level, Cabrera trumps Pujols in batting average (.339 vs. .310), RBI (93 vs. 84), and OBP (.429 vs. .406). Pujols has the upper hand in homeruns (28 vs. 26) and team record (64-39, 1st place in the NL Central vs. 55-59, third place in the AL Central).
Why does the team’s place in the MLB standings matter? Simple, the team’s place in the standings is equivalent to the amount of pressure on the batter once he enters the batting box. Both these players are the focal point of the offense for their teams, so this matters because Pujols is under much more pressure to perform than Cabrera.
Oddly enough, if you want to be thorough and include the supporting cast, things are pretty equal. The Tigers and Cardinals are close in hitting (.266 and .267) and OBP (both .336). The Cardinals have more collective power (85 vs. 65 excluding these guys homeruns).
So who is better? I have to go with Cabrera, but because of such an easy assessment as the superiority of the overall stats. I took a look at the season splits and saw that while Pujols is equally good against everyone, Cabrera is very good against right-handed pitchers but awe-inspiring against left-handed pitchers.
Now anyone looking at the same stats as I am will notice Pujols shows equal power against both breed of pitchers, but Cabrera seems to only show power when hitting against right handed hurlers. Then Tiger fans can comeback with Pujols struggle on the road (.272) while Cabrera is even better on the road than at home (.347 vs. .332). For those who dismiss batting average and are part of the OBP revolution, those numbers follow suit.
I take Cabrera because he can hit and get on base no matter where he is and who he is playing, while Pujols really dominates at home but struggles on the road. In fact, he is even, dare I say, average outside of Busch Stadium. The killer is that while this is a needless player comparison, there will be St. Louis Cardinals tickets available in the postseason while the Tigers players will be taking time off at the golf course come this fall.
