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TimRoxSox t1_jc7nc7v wrote

But the combination of everything is what makes the hitter. In 2020, he was MLB's best hitter with a wRC+ of 202. He was MLB's 3rd-best hitter in 2021. In a huge down year, he was MLB's 10th-best hitter (Statcast data had him as the 4th-best). If a hitter is 1st, 3rd, and 10th in MLB over three seasons, it's totally fair for people to say he's the best. I wouldn't, but he's among the best, at the very least. He's not gonna run a BABIP of nearly 100 points below his career numbers again.

The biggest issue with your original comment is that you brought up AVG, which hardly describes how good a hitter is. I always use this example -- would you rather have Skip Schumaker's .303 AVG in 2009 or Prince Fielder's .299? Going by AVG, you would think Schumaker was the better hitter, but Fielder was absurdly more valuable with the bat. Just a preposterous gap in their production.

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