Hitters not Forgotten in a Pitchers Year

As the baseball season reaches the three-quarter pole. pitchers continue to dominate with several strong candidates for the Cy Young Award in both leagues.  However, hitters have not been completely left out as eight hitters are on target to reach a .300 batting average with 30 home runs and 100 RBIs.  Four others are close.

On Target for .300-30-100  (.300-23-77)

Albert Pujols		.316-32-89	Tenth straight year.
Miguel Cabrera	        .341-31-102	Best season yet.
Paul Konerko	        .310-31-86	May be a career year.
Joey Votto		.323-29-86	MVP candidate if Reds win.
Josh Hamilton	        .357-28-88	Great all-around player.
Robinson Cano	        .325-25-86	Best hitter on Yankee team.
Carlos Gonzalez	        .315-25-79	Rising young star.
Adrian Beltre		.323-23-86	Great pickup by Red Sox.

Close (.290-21-72)

Adrian Gonzalez	        .297-25-79	Carries Padre offense.
Ryan Howard	        .292-23-82	Slowed by an injury.
Vladimir Guerrero	.299-22-91	Has done it 8 times.
Matt Holliday		.301-21-75	Did it twice with Rockies.

Pitchers also have triple crown targets to shoot for – 20 wins, 200 strikeouts and an ERA under 3.00. Roy Halladay in 2008 is the only pitcher in the last 4 years to reach these targets. The last time two pitchers made it was in 2002 when Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez achieved all three. This year, three National League pitchers are on a pace to reach all three targets and two American League pitchers are close.

On Target for 20-200-<3.00 (15-154-<3.00)

Ubaldo Jimenez	       17-156-2.66	Still living off of fast start.
Adam Wainwright	       17-165-2.06	Making strong case for Cy Young.
Roy Halladay	       16-180-2.16	Always near the top.

Close (14-144-<3.10)

C. C. Sabathia	       17-151-3.02	Finishing strong.
David Price	       15-146-2.97	Has become an ace.