Over at Bill James' website, someone asked him about Troy Tulowitzki's ranking in the MVP race, and Bill noted that he'd put Pujols first, then "Hanley in the mix behind Albert, along with Fielder, Braun, Adrian Gonzalez, Chase Utley, Tim Lincecum, and, of course, Elijah Dukes. Tulowitski's a good player, but I can't really see him at that level."
First of all, it's Tulowitzki with a Z, just like Liza. Second of all, Ryan Braun? The two were about as similar as two hitters can be this year: Tulo was ahead by one point of slugging percentage, while Braun had a nine-point edge in OBP. Braun's small advantage there, plus adjusting for the ballparks, leaves the Hebrew Hammer a half-step ahead of Tulo as a hitter. OPS+ sees it as 144-135 in favor of Braun.
But then you've got a good defensive shortstop measured against a bad defensive leftfielder. A nine-point advantage in OPS+ can't come close to making up that difference.
Tulowitzki is not at Braun's level? It seems to me that Tulowitzki was pretty clearly the better player this year.
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