Upsetting the Cargo

Just as the hype was building on the possibility of having a Triple Crown winner in the NL for the first time in... forever (it seems), along comes the kid from Venezuela to upset the cart. The scary thing is he has an outside chance of taking the Crown himself! Yes, Carlos Gonzalez is that good!

So good in fact that he has the Rockies on another late season charge up the ranks of the NL West and fighting for a playoff shot. He's strong, fast and powerful at the plate and reminds me a little of Willie Mays in that he can do it all on the baseball field. The prototypical Center Fielder.



Can he possibly take the Triple Crown away from St. Louis icon Albert Pujols and Cincinatti's surprising Joey Votto? Well, he has easily eclipsed those two in batting average. He's been on an absolute tear at the plate since the end of August, hitting .500 in that span with 10 RBIs and 3 HRs. Those ribbies gave him the NL lead with 100. .. .

CarGo's issue is the same as Votto's. Will he catch Prince Albert in the HR Department where he trails by 4 as of this writing? One hope is that he is in Colorado and the ball does fly out of the park there with regular ease.




As much as I like the kid. As much as I hope he can pull it off. I have to say that in my heart, I don't think he can do it. He has 32 HRs and 100 RBIs with a .340 average in 125 games this year - incredibly impressive numbers for the soon to be 25yr old. I'm sure he will be filling his trophy case with a ton of metal over the years, I just don't think one of them will be the Triple Crown in 2010.

Will the Prince get the Crown?

We've all been mesmerized by the incredible hitting talents of Prince Albert since the day he stepped into the Major Leagues. This man has achieved incredible heights, amassed terrific numbers, that will surely land him in the Hall of Fame and has led his team to a World Series Championship! What more could a player ask for? How about a historic feat??


I mean, really historic. Something that hasn't been achieved by a NL player in nearly 3/4 of a century. Yes, the "Holy Grail" of baseball statistics - The Triple Crown. The ultimate prize for a professional hitter.

Something only two great hitters (Roger Hornsby - NL & Ted Williams - AL) have put in their trophy case twice!



The last Major League player to accomplish the Triple Crown was Carl Yastremzki, out of the AL (Red Sox), back in 1967. But... that was the AL. The last Triple Crown winner in the NL occurred thirty years earlier! In St. Louis!

Yup, believe it or not, in 1937 it was Joe Medwick of the St. Louis Cardinals that achieved the Triple Crown with 31 HR, 154 RBI and a .374 average. Could it be destined for St. Louis again, 73 years later? To the Prince?

Or, will it be spoiled and maybe even achieved by Cincinnati's Joey Votto?


Joey Votto? Yes, he is having a career year in a quest to lead the Reds to the NL Central title. But, can he upset the Prince and take the crown?

Well, it's completely possible that either of these fine two talents can take home the prize. Let's take a look.

At this time Joey has the lead in the NL Batting title (albeit a tenuous one), with a .323 average.

The problem is... this is the most precarious of all statistics. One bad series and you could drop right out of the batting average race!

The Prince, meanwhile is right in his rear view mirror with a .316 average.

If I were going to bet on either, I'd have to give the nod to Prince Albert. He's been there. He's a 3 time NL MVP. He's got a career .332 average and he's hit over .350 twice. Pretty stellar. Have to lean toward the Prince foiling the challenge of Joey Votto in this category.

As for Home Runs, well.. Prince Albert already holds the lead here at 32 and also has a pretty impressive history to fall back on (just shy of 400!).


Joey Votto is three HRs behind and has never hit more than 25 in any of his previous 3 years at the MLB level. Clearly this year will mark a career high for Votto even if it ended today. Again, I just can't see Votto overtaking The Prince in this category either.

Lastly, RBIs ... where we see The Prince leading Votto by 3. Understanding that this is a stat dependent on many more factors than the previous two. RBIs require opportunity; teammates need to get on base for you to have a chance to "get em in".

Already this season Votto has had fewer opportunities than Prince Albert and may be at a greater disadvantage as a result of the aforementioned HR scenario. The Prince simply rounds the bases himself more often than Votto does. That will add up over the season.

So, when you look at the probability, opportunity, history and ability of the two players. You simply have to believe that this will be the year the NL will see a Triple Crown winner. And... that winner will be - King Albert!

Young Guns

We're creeping up on the half way mark of 2010, the Draft is over and all eyes are set on the All-Star game. So far it appears that there may be a changing of the guard in terms of team leaders.

No longer is Chipper Jones the face of the Braves, or Mannywood the place to be in LA. Instead it's Martin Prado and Jason Heyward in Atlanta and Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier and James Loney in LA.


It's a similar story all over the league. Elvis Andrus is batting over .300 for Texas and seems to add the perfect mix for the 1st place Rangers. Add in Ian Kinsler, Justin Smoak and Joaquin Arias and you have a bundle of talent at a very young age.


They're not just young and talented, they know how to win. Texas leads the AL West, albeit barely. Yet, these young guns may have more in their tank then the A's or Angels who are significantly older (especially in the Outfield).

In Seattle, the age has definitely had an impact. Griffey, Jr. recognized it and decided to get out of the way, retiring after a Hall of Fame career. The problem is Seattle can't seem to find the spark to get it moving up in the standings. They don't have that young superstar that ignites the team, the fans and the scoreboard.

So, where are the young superstars that light up the scoreboard, fan interest and drive their teams toward the top of the standings? Here's my top 5.

Austin Jackson - Detroit Tigers.


This guy is only 23, barely... and his presence is just what the Tigers need at the top of their lineup. They have all the power they could possibly want behind him. That's not his game. It's speed baby, speed. Get on, get over and get in. That's the Austin Jackson game. He's batting .318 with 17 doubles and has scored 36 times already. When he cuts down on the K ratio he'll be even more impressive.

Martin Prado - Atlanta Braves


I know.. he's not super young.. but, he's super good. At only 26 Prado is the catalyst for the Braves. He took over the job late in '08 and hasn't missed a beat since. This is another guy that is not about power and production, it's about table setting and average. Every team needs one (at least) and the better they are at doing their seemingly insignificant job, the higher the team rises in the standings. Prado is that guy. He leads the NL in average at .325 and is 2nd in runs scored with 44. There is more than enough fire power behind Martin, funny how that works huh? Just like Jackson in Detroit, Prado sets em up in Atlanta. Watch this team, they're exciting and fun to watch.

David Freese - St. Louis Cardinals


After getting a cup of coffee last year and showing he could handle the hot corner, the Cards bet on David as the cornerstone of the infield. They won, big time. This kid is real good. He's nothing flashy, all business... both at the plate and in the field. His .311 average is among the leaders and he's scored 35 times this year while knocking in 32. That's saying something when you have run producers like Ludwick, Pujols and Holliday in the lineup. Give him time and you could see something special here.

Jason Heyward - Atlanta Braves

No wonder the Braves lead the NL East. They have a supreme mix of youth and experience. The key is their youth is just other worldly. Jason came on with a bang and he has yet to flatten out. You can see that he's not perfect, with a horrendous 0 for 5 in LA with 5 K's! Yikes. Yet, despite that, he's among the leaders in RBIs with 40 and has 10 HRs already. And who can blame him for the 5K performance when he was facing a nasty young lefty (Kershaw) and a blazing bull (Broxton) in LA. There's been more than one good hitter go down to that pitching staff. He's only 20 and there's magic in this kid's bat. Just give it time to show off.

Andre Ethier - LA Dodgers


Stud. That about covers it. Had he not broken his pinky earlier in the year, this could have been (and may still be) an absolutely remarkable statistical year for Andre. The A's gave up on this kid after he was named Minor League player of the year. How do you do that? LA was glad to offer him a home. Man, has he taken advantage of it. THE clutch hitter in baseball, Andre is the Walk Off wizard. He's got a .360 average and 40 RBIs. I'm pretty sure we're just beginning to see the talent that Andre possesses. Watch his at bats, you'll definitely learn something.

Offenses on Fire in first week.

It was a good first week of MLB for the men at the dish. Balls were flying all over (and out of) every host stadium. That's always a good sign for Hitting fans like us.


Who's really hot? Well, as mentioned in the previous blog, the Jays have a solid hitting lineup. The hottest Jay is not Adam Lind or even Vernon Wells. It's the shortstop with the short quick bat - Alex Gonzalez. He stayed red hot on Sunday with a solid 2 for 4 performance that netted 2 more Home Runs to give him 4 on the season. He also picked up a couple more Ribs at the plate. In the past week he's ripped at an 8 for 22 clip. No wonder the Jays are on top of the AL East.

In St. Louis it's more than just the King Albert show. Although, Albert is
certainly off to a super start at .375 with 4 Big flies and 10 Ribs.. all putting him among the leaders in the NL. It's his counterpart Matt Holliday who is on fire as a Cardinal. Matt is stroking a .423 average with 3 Bombs and is providing a lot of protection to Pujols. Last night was no exception as the Cards were down by 3 going into the 9th in Milwaukee. Low and Behold, Albert belted a 2 run shot to get them close. Then, Matt crushed a shot to deep center field to tie it. Pretty incredible encore from Matt. Watch these back to back gems Here! No Surprise, they're on top in the Central Division.

Because of San Francisco's uncharacteristic hot start, the D'Backs are not atop the NL West despite the offensive flash from Chris Young. He's on fire in the desert. How hot? How about 7 for his last 20 with 11 RBIs to lead the league in the Ribby department. Chris has also belted out 3 Bombs to sit among the leaders in the power display.


So, there ya have it. Some of the hottest bats in baseball as we roll into week number 2. Enjoy the barrage of hits. I know we do here at BABH.com

Click here it you'd like to learn to mash like these guys! And.. to see who Yesterday's Hitter was.

Renteria Raging Hot in SF

What a start to the season for hitters. Although that's generally the case most every April, it seems especially apparent this year. If you look around the league, you'll see some softball like averages out there. It's a bit crazy.



Speaking of which, it's wild in San Fran right now. They're 4-0 and atop the NL West behind the strength of their bats (okay, they have some decent arms too). But this blog is about hitting and there's no shortage of that in the City by the Bay. Two games in a row the combo of Renteria and Rowand has been over the top. Edgar's game tying 2 run shot in the bottom of the 9th on Friday set the stage for his partner in crime to slip a game winner past the infield in the 13th. Renteria has a sizzling average of .688 out of the gates in 2010.



There's alot of High Fives going on across the Bay in Oakland where things aren't that much different. The hitters are saving the day. The A's had back to back walk off wins in Oakland on Wednesday and Thursday before thumping the Halos 10-4 last night. Mark Ellis is sporting a .400 average and seems to be in the mix of every rally the A's muster. NorCal never looked so good.

It's a little topsy turvy in the East as well, ok.. in the AL anyway. Who's on top? Tampa...on bottom? Boston. The Yanks are nestled in 3rd behind Toronto. Toronto? Yea man, this team is packed with hitters. Adam Lind can rake and Vernon Wells is Mr. Deep Wells so far in 2010. He's got 4 HRs already this year and his .500 average is packed with power numbers. Tampa Bay is stacked from top to bottom as well and it shouldn't surprise anybody to see them sitting in the cat bird seat.


The best hitter yesterday though was Rick Ankiel. He just couldn't do anything wrong. That's a great thing for Kansas City and exactly what they hoped for when they got Rick from St Lou. He delivered in spades yesterday going 4 for 4 and helping KC push the Red Sox into the cellar in the East. It's too bad KC's relief pitching (yuck, we hate that word) sucked so bad in the first two games.. heck, they could be 4-0. Now that would be a story!