Joey Votto Discussion

I'll announce it right out of the gate; Joey Votto did not deserve to win the 2010 regular-season Most Valuable Player award.  Take a closer look at the statistics of his primary contender, Albert Pujols, and compare the statistics.  
JOEY VOTTO
Cincinnati's superstar first baseman lit a superb .324 with 37 home runs and 113 RBI in 2010.  His OBP was a magnificent .424 and his slugging percentage was a enormous .600.  He stole 16 bases, an excellent number for a man weighing 229 pounds.  He didn't win a gold glove, but his fielding percentage of .996 was nearly flawless, showing he provided solid corner-infield defense for the Reds in 2010.  Votto did strike out 125 times, but backed that up with 91 walks.  He also pounded out 177 hits and 36 doubles.  He was also much better for his salary than Prince Albert Pujols; he made a measly 525,000 dollars in 2010, compared to Pujols' well deserved but far heftier salary of 14,595,953 dollars.  Votto also managed to hit 2 triples and scored 106 runs during his MVP campaign.

ALBERT PUJOLS 
St. Louis's perennial superstar hit .312 during the 2010 campaign, and hit 42 home runs with 118 RBI, showing more power than Votto.  Pujols had a .414 OBP during the year, and slugged .596, only 4 points below the magical .600 mark Votto attained.  Pujols banged out 183 hits, walked 103 times, struck out nearly 50 times less than Votto (76 total times).  Pujols earned a gold glove with a .998 fielding percentage, marginally better than that of Votto, but still better.  Albert stole 14 bases and scored 115 runs.  He hit 1 triple and 39 doubles.  He also played in 9 more games than Votto, 159 to 150.  




ADVANTAGE INDEX:
OBP: VOTTO, .414 TO .424
SLUGGING: VOTTO, .596 TO .600
AVERAGE: VOTTO, .312 TO .324
HOME RUNS: PUJOLS, 37 TO 42
RUNS BATTED IN: VOTTO 118 TO 126
WALKS: PUJOLS 91 TO 103
STRIKEOUTS: PUJOLS, 125 TO 76
HITS: PUJOLS, 177 TO 183
STOLEN BASES: VOTTO, 14 TO 16
DOUBLES: PUJOLS, 36 TO 39
TRIPLES: VOTTO, 1 TO 2
FIELDING PERCENTAGE: PUJOLS, .997 TO .998


SO MOST ADVANTAGES TO TO VOTTO, BUT I WOULD STILL TAKE PUJOLS AS THE MVP.  JUST BECAUSE THE CARDINALS DIDN'T WIN A THING DOESN'T MEAN THAT IT WAS PUJOLS'S FAULT.  THE PROBLEM WAS THAT THE CARDINALS WERE ABSOLUTELY AWFUL ALL YEAR LONG.




IT IS DONE: MVP JOEY VOTTO, WELL ENOUGH DESERVED






Statistics gathered from espn.com

Pictures gathered from: VOTTO PICTURE: http://waynesworldofsports.com/wp content/uploads/2010/07/Joey-Votto1.jpg, PUJOLS PICTURE: http://www.albertpujolsclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Albert-Pujols-Hits-400th-Career-Homer.jpg