Assuming he doesn’t completely tank like the 2013-20 Pujols he’ll still rival Mantle, Mays and Charleston as the greatest centerfielder ever.

And some guy named Cobb; he had a decent career....

Jeff McNeil now leads the majors in batting average.

McNeill entered today with a 4-point lead over Freeman, .326-.322. Freeman went 3-4 at the plate to finish with a .325 average, while McNeill didn’t start (he subbed in at 2B later in the game but didn’t have an AB). So McNeil wins the batting title, in a way that feels a little cheap even though I’m a Mets fan and very happy for him. Not too long ago, this would have been controversial, but I guess nobody really cares that much about the batting title since I haven’t seen much commentary about it. (I couldn’t watch either game tonight so maybe it was discussed a lot during the broadcast.)

Kurt suzuki retires with 20 WAR - nice career for him.

Matheny fired. I wonder who else will go tomorrow

did Trout set the record for fewest RBI in a 40 HR season?

On Trout's future, I think he will be like 30's Mickey Mantle; which was still a HOF level player (though not the greatest of the great) mainly b/c of durability issues.

Trout has already missed so much time the last five years; players don't get more durable in their 30's. Maybe he will DH like Molitor and get more playing time.

Every year, he gets a different injury. But, he surprised me this year when he returned from the back issue.

Good luck to him.

Judge finishes with a 22 HR lead over
#2 Trout in the AL, and a 16 homer lead over #2 Schwarber in the majors, both the largest margins in 90+ years.

Majors - Largest since 1932, when Foxx outhomered Ruth 58-41

Individual league - Largest since the 1928 AL, when Ruth outhomered Gehrig 54-27

I guess nobody really cares that much about the batting title since I haven’t seen much commentary about it.

We just had about 100 posts about Arraez sitting with the lead over Judge ... not that that had anything to do with people (other tha Luis Arraez) caring about the batting title.

#307 - TBF, the main reason people cared so much about that was because the Triple Crown was in play, not just a generic batting title.

That said, I actually do still care about batting titles. I was rooting for an established star like Freddie Freeman to win over some relative rando like Jeff McNeil, too. But yeah, the Triple Crown added a whole nother level to my interest.

On Trout's future, I think he will be like 30's Mickey Mantle; which was still a HOF level player (though not the greatest of the great) mainly b/c of durability issues.

They both started in the majors at age 19, in their age 30 season Mantle had 7199 pa and 90.6 war, 8.2 per 650 pa. Trout has 6155 pa, 82.4 war, 8.7 per 650 pa. By war they are pretty equivalent, might not even blame too much of the pa difference on Trout's injuries, Covid probably cost him 300+ pa. Basically we are watching the second coming of Mickey Mantle.

did Trout set the record for fewest RBI in a 40 HR season?

I think so, there is an old cbs post that lists Bonds(2003), Adam Dunn and Griffey as the fewest rbi by a 40 hr season and all of them had 90(92 for Dunn). And Joey Gallo must have happened after that article as he had 41 hr with 80 rbi.

#308
"Relative rando" Jeff McNeil also finished 4th in BA in 2018.

I'm not sure McNeil is a rando, he's a two time all star with a career batting average of .307. without covid, he's probably 3 time all star, the guy is actually a better hitter than Freeman at the same age(talking about average, not offensive value) His average war per 162 is 5.3. The covid thing probably hurts him getting the recognition he has earned. But he's one of the best secondbaseman in baseball now.

Yeah, not to pile on but McNeill is about as close a thing as there is to a pure average hitter in MLB today. He had a bad year last season but every other year since coming up in 2018 he’s hit at least .311 with a 130 OPS+. Freeman is obviously the better all around hitter with the more impressive career but I don’t think there’s anything flukey about McNeill winning a batting title at this point.

Yeah, not to pile on but McNeill is about as close a thing as there is to a pure average hitter in MLB today.

I'd like to introduce you to 2022 AL batting champion Luis Arraez. (age, level, BA, ISO)

19 A 347 097
20 (injured, 13 PA)
21 A+ 320 101
21 AA 298 067
22 AA 343 054
22 AAA 349 060
22 MLB 334 105 (366 PA)
23 MLB 321 081 (121 PA ... 2020)
24 MLB 294 082 (479 PA ... missed 30+ games)
25 MLB 316 105 (603 PA)

MLB career: 314/374/410, 120 OPS+, 8.4% K, 8.7% BB, 30% LD, 23% pull/54% mid/23% opp -- that is literally textbook, line-drive, hits the ball to all fields.