Who wins in the battle of heavyweight hitters?
One of the things we do as sports fans is to compare one athlete against another. The most common and current of such debates resides in the NBA where LeBron James keeps gaining ground on Michael Jordan for the title of the greatest basketball player of all time. Some believe LBJ will never reach MJ’s status regardless of what he accomplishes for the remainder of his career. We love to make comparisons between NFL quarterbacks and which signal caller would you rather have under center. Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are still living through this televised and social media discussion every day and will probably have to endure it for the rest of their lives.
When it comes to baseball you rarely hear about one player being compared to another. Why is that?
There are many different positions on the field defensively and various types of hitters that contribute to their team. Some hit for power, some look to just make contact and others will sit back and take a walk unless they get the perfect pitch. Point being, it’s hard to compare a .350 hitter with a slugger who bangs out 45 home runs every season. Yet, we do it anyway and ask who would you start your team with?! I look for the five-tool player.
A five-tool player is a guy you want in your clubhouse because he can hit for average and power, run fast, has intelligence on the base path while also having the ability to field the ball cleanly and throw it in quick with accuracy. We call baseball a “numbers game” so in reality, it’s much easier to compare baseball players against each other because everything in the sport revolves around statistics.
Statistics show that Miguel Cabrera and Albert Pujols are two of the greatest hitters of all time.
Miguel Cabrera entered the Major Leagues as a Florida Marlin at the ripe young age of 20 back in 2003. The young Marlins franchise won the World Series that season as Cabrera batted clean-up for the Fish during the playoffs. I don’t think that was a coincidence, yet a correlation showing that if Miggy is batting in the middle of your line-up, the scoreboard will light up. He only played in 87 games that season, but he was a key piece on their road to victory. He displayed enormous capability in his rookie year, especially in the NLCS where he batted .333, with three home runs and six RBI.
He even hit a walk-off home run in his first MLB game!
Miguel Cabrera most definitely lived up to the hype and exceeded expectations once he was traded to the Detroit Tigers. In 2012, he became the first player in the Majors to hit for the Triple Crown since Carl Yastrzemski did it back in 1967. That says a lot when nobody had been able to accomplish that feat since Miggy did it 45 years after Yastremski and nobody has come close since. It was a foregone conclusion that Cabrera would hit a minimum of 35 homers, have at least a .315 BA and drive in well over 100 runs per season.
Cabrera led the league in batting average four times which is absolutely unheard of for a power hitter. What’s even more amazing is that he led the league in B.A. for three straight seasons (2011-2013). Cabrera led the Majors in on-base percentage (OBP) four times as well. In the categories of home runs, doubles and RBI, Miggy was on top as he had the most of each twice in his incredible career. He and the Marlins won the World Series as a rookie in 2003 but returned with the Tigers in 2012 for another crack at it after so many disappointing postseasons. The San Francisco Giants ended up beating the Tigers in the W.S. but Detroit was back and relevant again. No coincidence that Detroit went to the showdown that season since Cabrera achieved the Triple Crown and MVP honors. Cabrera even followed up his 2013 campaign with back to back American League MVP awards.
In the interest of saving time, let’s take a look at Albert Pujols numbers since he joined MLB in 2001, just a couple years before Miggy and they’re both still playing ball. Goes to show you how great these two players are!
Even taking Fantasy Baseball into account, it was between Cabrera and Pujols for the first pick in fantasy drafts for almost a decade.
When we talk about the greatest right-handed hitters of all-time you hear names like Willie Mays, Joe DiMaggio, Hank Aaron, Jimmie Foxx and even Mike Trout is getting recognition as one of the greatest hitters and all-around baseball players in league history. All of these Hall of Fame players and future inductees had incredible careers that made them stand out from their peers. There’s no doubt that Cabrera and Pujols belong in that group!
It seemed the second Albert Pujols picked up a baseball bat and stepped into the batter’s box for the first time, that greatness was about to occur and greatness may be an understatement when you consider what this man has accomplished in his inevitable Hall of Fame career. I remember during the entire decade of the 2000’s that trying to get Pujols out was comparable to facing a juiced up Barry Bonds. Fear struck the pitchers heart as his legs shook from the sight of a living legend.
Pujols has such a calm batting stance, a look of confidence in his eye and perhaps the sweetest swing you’ve ever seen from a right-handed hitter. He always had a great eye for the ball and would rarely strike out as a result of it.
Like I said, Pujols was a force the second he entered the Major Leagues winning the Rookie of the Year award hands down. Pujols was given the nickname “The Machine” which isn’t too fancy but it sure is accurate. He won MVP honors three times during his incredible ongoing career. He led the St. Louis Cardinals to two World Series championships. He’s a perennial All-Star making the team 10 times. Much like Cabrera, Pujols is a power hitter who can also hit for average. He won the batting title in back in 2003 with a .359 average adding 43 homers with 124 RBI. Are you kidding?!
Look at these two mammoth home runs during his rookie season!
Pujols batted over .300 in the first 10 seasons of his career. He hit .299 in his 11th! Just amazing! He also hit over 30 home runs in his first 12 seasons in the Majors while leading the league twice in that category. You want one more fantastic stat for Big Al!? He never struck out more than 100 times in a season. We’re talking about a guy who has over 600 career home runs and never struck out more than 100 times in a year! Wow! Pujols only averaged 77 strikeouts per season during his 18-year career.
Let’s just look at the big picture and make our decision from there. However, after I give you the stats, I have one more caveat to throw in the mix that may sway you to one side.
Career Stats
Miguel Cabrera: (16 years) 465 HR – 1,635 RBI – .316 BA – 2,676 Hits -1,388 R – 1,087 BB – .946 OPS
Albert Pujols: (18 years) 631 HR – 1,971 RBI – .303 BA – 3,060 Hits – 1,761 – 1,269 BB – .940
As they say, numbers don’t lie and these figures show me that Albert Pujols is a better all-time hitter than Miguel Cabrera. I’m not taking anything away from Miggy because he’s absolutely one of the best I’ve ever seen step into the batter’s box. Pujols has played two more seasons than Cabrera and about 400 more games. Even if we extrapolate Miggy’s numbers another two seasons, he still wouldn’t have the big numbers Pujols does. Perhaps he would equal Big Al in hits and walks but not home runs or RBI.
These numbers are not far off at all.
When it comes to hitting, you can easily say both of these living legends were equally as feared when facing opposing pitchers.
But there are two other factors that stick out to me that make Pujols the better all-around player and not just hitter. For one, Pujols has struck out much less than Cabrera who went down swinging 1,653 times. The Machine, however, only struck out 1,200 times while playing roughly 400 more games than Miggy. That says a lot. But, let us not forget baseball is not just about hitting the ball. It’s also about fielding it and Pujols most certainly ranks above Cabrera in that category. Pujols is two-time Gold Glove award winner which is given to the best defensive player at his position. Miggy was never known for his fielding and was moved around the diamond as a result of it.
So who’s the better hitter? I say Pujols but not by much. Who’s the better all-around baseball player? I don’t think there’s an argument there. After all, the man is The Machine.
I was debating this with a friend the other day. I said Pujols and he said Cabrera. You make a lot of great points and the strike outs are a big one. They’re as close as it gets but the numbers show the reality. But have to say that Cabrera was injured more. Not sure if that helps or hurts his cause.
Not sure why quite a few leave out the last 8 seasons of Albert’s career. I would say, ask Angel fans if they witnessed one of the best all time in baseball. Since he’s been in a Angel uniform he has hit .258 on average. In fact, 5 out of the last 6 seasons he has checked in with a 240+ BA. Albert was arguably the best to ever step to the plate his first 11 seasons. His last 8 seasons, well, less than average. His lifetime BA has dropped to an even .300. What could be said if Albert plays 22 seasons, half as one of the best, the other half a 240+ hitter?