Miklasz: Pujols deserves MVP award

Bernie Loves Digit…or something like that.

Let’s turn to sabermetrics. According to Baseball Prospectus, Pujols had the NL’s highest VORP (value over a replacement) by a huge gap. No NL player was close to him.

I don’t know if “clutch” hitting really exists, but I’ll play along. Pujols had a better batting average than Howard (.339 to .320) with runners in scoring position. (And Pujols had a higher batting average with runners in scoring position and two out). Albert didn’t have as many opportunities, with 60 fewer ABs than Howard with runners in scoring position. That might explain, in part, why Howard ended up with more RBIs.

Let’s look at the “Close and Late” statistic used by STATS LLC. What is a hitter’s batting average in the seventh inning or later in a one-run or tied game? Pujols .314 in those “Close and Late” situations. Howard batted .139 from the seventh inning on, and .158 in “Close and Late” at-bats.

...Pujols’ team stayed in wild-card playoff contention for five months and exceeded expectations by finishing 10 games over .500. He has nothing to apologize for but may get snubbed again by the BBWAA.