FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Steelercooz said 07/15, 05:39 PM
Even with Howard's injury, he's come back this season with the hype of a returning MVP.

And he hasn't backed it up.

Howard has showed in several occasions he does not have the patience of a hitter who will consistently hit for average. He will always be an outstanding power hitter because he has such a powerful swing, but he clearly gets frustrated early in a game if he doesn't get pitched to, and the shift they put on him has clearly taken away his ability to get base hits.

Fielder, on the other hand, has already shown he has similar power to Howard, and he is a much tougher out thus far in his career. You may disagree, but who is batting behind Prince Fielder? Jonny Estrada, a guy who has no power at all, so it's easier to avoid Fielder. Howard had Pat Burrell last year, and before he became the Most Hated Man in Philly, he had 29 HRs and 95 RBI. Howard got pitched to more than Fielder is.

Steelercooz said 07/15, 06:03 PM
Yeah, the Home Run Derby is a true indicator about how good of a hitter, power or otherwise, a guy is. Ask Yankees fans what they think about Bobby Abreu's performance in the Home Run Derby and how much that has helped them.

And last I checked, intentional walks don't lower your batting average. Either way, Howard has 12 more walks than Fielder does this year, don't think Howard is getting all that many more passes. Plus, Fielder has him in OPS 1,000 to 950. That's a significant advantage in power hitting as well as overall offensive production.

None of this changes the fact Howard clearly has a hole in his swing, and can't hit inside pitches effectively enough to force a team to stop moving their shortstop over second base I don't see teams playing Fielder that way. He hits well to all fields, and is proving it right now in every hitting statistic in which both are eligible.

Steelercooz said 07/15, 06:29 PM
I think several people here could list off a lot of guys who didn't win Rookie of the Year and ended up being good players.

"They put the shift there to takeaway hits from howard which the shift does." Whhhaaa...? Are you high? The shift is in place because Howard can't hit inside pitches as well as he can hit middle-part and outer-half pitches. It takes away his strength. The fact his numbers have dropped off is more an indication of that than his minor injuries earlier this season. He is below last year in every power statistic, whereas Fielder, the non-Rookie of the Year, has improved in all of them without much to protect him. Fielder is going up, Howard has, at best leveled off this year, and the stats prove that. Fielder will get his fair share of MVP votes, as he is the face behind the resurgent Brewers. It should have been Pujols last year, anyway.

For the record, you said the Phillies should have brought him up "when he was 21 or 22," or, the years when the Phils paid Jim Thome a ton of money to play first base. Howard was still in college when he was 21.

Thank you, and please vote for the best argument.