Baseball means many things, and debate is one of them. Nothing better than sipping a cold hard seltzer (which somehow, we have started to enjoy) on a hot summer day and debating the top ten in baseball. Not including pitchers, and in semi- order of our ranking, here are our current top ten:
Aaron Judge RF Yankees: Current home run king. Almost had the triple crown last year- 62 HR, .311 average and 131 RBIs. Shows up on defense. Averages 49 HRs and .292 over his career. Rookie of the Year 2017 and AL MVP last year.
Mike Trout CF Calif Angels: All around skill, talent, stats. Won an AL MVP in 2014, 2017 AND 2019. Does everything but win. And how much of that is his fault and not managements? Averages 40 HR, 23 stolen bases, and .303 for his 12-year career. Those are HOF stats. He just needs to get into the postseason.
Yordan Alvarez DH/LF Astros- MVP in of ALCS where he hit .522 and was unstoppable. Won a WS. Shows up in big situations (hit the homer against Rodney Ray to set Houston up in the post season) adequate fielder. Dynamic and exciting baseball player. Rookie of the Year 2019.
Mookie Betts RF LA Dodgers: Speed and daring on the bases. Solid fielding. A career .293 hitter. Smacked 35 HRs last year and shows up in the post season- hit .429 in the wild card series last year. A winner and a guy you want on your team. AL MVP 2018.
Shohei Ohtani P/DH Calif Angels: Unique. Hits 260 and is a DH, but throws 140-150 innings a year and wins 10-15 games a year on a lousy team. Perhaps the worst hitter of the top ten. But because he's a pitcher and hitter, he makes the list.
Jose Ramirez 3B- Cleveland - Only guy on a lousy team that can hit. No one in the lineup protects him, and yet he gets the job done. Hit .280 and 29 HRs last year which is his average for his nine year career.
Bryce Harper RF Phillies: Hits big pitching. Won 2 MVPS. Won the pennant for his team last year. .280 career hitter. Averages 165 hits and 33 HRs a year. The kind of player than can anchor a World Series team. Rookie of the year 2012; NL MVP 2015 and 2021.
Freddie Freeman 1B LA Dodgers: NL MVP for the Braves in 2020. Hit 25 HR and .325 for the Dodgers last year. Quietly does the job. Dependable.
Rafael Devers 3B Boston: Hits big pitching. A few great years. 165 hits in 2021. 164 hits in 2022. Consistent. 65 HRs in two years and .280 hitter.
Autin Riley 3B Braves: Hits 35+ HRs a year. Hit .303 in 2021 and .273 in 2022. Great on defense.
Manny Machado 3B Padres - Plays every day. Good defensive 3rd baseman. 25-30 HRs a year- hit 32 HRs last year while batting .298. Potential to change any game at any time.
7 comments:
Tough to argue with but you might want to include a catcher such as Wilson Contreras. A catcher's value does not show up in numbers.
Growing up in miami and being a natural athletic talent, I was drawn to americas past time. In miami itbwas baseball and football if u had talent. After that it's tennis.
In my older age, I have gained an appreciation for futbol. Nothing is better then champions league and the World Cup. Baseball is a relic from the past. Good for steroid use, and until judge, dominated during my life at least by steroid monkeys.
Resident Braves Fan here.
I'm a huge Riley fan, but if youre going to have a Brave on the list, it starts with Ronald Acuna. 40/40 this year.
Where are the Dade 2022 trial stats like the Broward blog posted? I think it would be real interesting to see those numbers, and I think someone like Captain Justice could get them!
Where is Paul Goldschmidt?
Anyone notice they are trying to get rid of depos of anyone under 18 in cases like DV, sex bat, L&L, child abuse or neglect, etc? SB 1208 and HB 1037, both identical.
Mike Trout is one of the worst things to happen to MLB. Great player but totally unmarketable. Zero personality : he can walk down the street in any city in America and no one would recognize him. He has done nothing to promote the game.
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