When you think of the best hitter in baseball, most people generally think of Albert Pujols. Some think of Alex Rodriguez. Others maybe Manny Ramirez. Let there be no mistake: Albert Pujols is the best hitter in baseball.

Don’t believe me? Look at the statistics.

1. Home Runs: Pujols does not just lead the league in homers, he demolishes the league. His 31 home runs are SEVEN more than Adrian Gonzalez, who is in second place. Half-way through the season, Pujols has 26% more home runs than second place. Absolutely incredible.
2. Home Runs per at bat: Pujols is hitting a home run every 8.84 at bats. Adrian Gonzalez is once again in second place at 11.36 at bats. The difference between Pujols and Gonzalez is 2.52 at bats. The different between Gonzalez and number nine Jermaine Dye (13.95) is 2.59 at bats. Think about that: the difference between first and second is just about the same as the difference between second and ninth. That is how far ahead Pujols is in at bats per home run.
3. RBI: Pujols leads the league in runs-batted-in as well with 82. He leads by 7 RBI over second-place Prince Fielder as well, but he has 12 more than third-place Jason Bay. There are only nine players with more than 60 RBI and Pujols has EIGHTY-TWO.
4. Batting Average: Think he’s just a power hitter? Pujols is tied for third in baseball with a .336 average as well. Ichiro continues to destroy the league with a .365 average, but Pujols is lurking. Could he become the first player since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967 to win the Triple Crown and the first National League player to win it since Joe Medwick in 1937? If there’s anyone who’s going to do it, it’s Pujols.
5. On-Base-Percentage: Okay. so you’re a Bill-James follower and like OBP more than batting average. Well, Pujolsleads the league there with a .460 OBP, 27 points higher than second-place Prince Fielder. Once again, the difference between Pujols in first place and Fielder in second is the same as the difference between Fielder and the 13th placed player (Zobrist).
6. Let’s run through some other stats quickly. Slugging percentage? Of course he’s number one at .741. There are only four players above .600 slugging and he is above .700 (85 points ahead of second place). Since he leads in both OBP and Slugging percentage, he obviously leads in OPS. At 1.200, Pujols’s OPS is 154 points ahead of second place. There are five players above 1.000 and none above 1.050 yet Pujols is at 1.200. He leads MLB with64 runs and 65 walks as well, bothminor, but important stats. With all of those great stats, he has struck out just 34 times this year. Oh yeah, and he has stolen 10 bases while being thrown out just three times.

Okay, there you have it. Pujols’s stats are truly incredible. The man is a hitting machine. It’s not like he has a lot of protection in the order as well as Ryan Ludwick, who is hitting just .237, bats behind him. So next time anyone asks you who you think is the best hitter in baseball, you’ll know to answer:

Albert Pujols