ST. LOUIS – Were the best years of Albert Pujols in a St. Louis Cardinals uniform better than, equal to or not quite as strong as the rise of New York Yankees star Aaron Judge? A simple assertion on social media has spurred a lengthy debate.
Last weekend, Barstool Sports personality Marty Mush took to social media platform X and made the case that “Aaron Judge is the best hitter we will ever see in our lifetime.” The remarks came during a game in which Judge homered in the first inning, then was intentionally walked in the next inning to limit damage.
Judge is a strong candidate for his second MVP award in three seasons and possibly a rare Triple Crown award, leading the majors in home runs (41) and RBI (103) while third in batting average (.322) among qualified hitters. The 32-year-old outfielder is on a healthy pace to shatter or finish within striking distance of personal bests he set in 2022 for the three standard hitting categories, including an American League record of 62 single-season home runs.
Pujols, a three-time MVP and two-time World Series champion with the Cardinals, never won a Triple Crown or slugged more than 50 home runs in a season, though he was a model of consistency at the highest level for much of his St. Louis career. To date, he is the only player to start his MLB career with 10 consecutive seasons of 30 home runs, 100 RBIs and a .300 average. He nearly secured an 11th in the final season of his first stint with the Cardinals before the second half of his career in Los Angeles, largely derailed by injuries.
All told, Pujols is one of only two players in MLB history with at least 3,000 career hits and 700 career home runs, exclusively in company with Hank Aaron.
Circling back to the recent remarks on Judge, millions noticed Mush’s X post and thousands engaged as to whether they felt Judge was truly the best hitter of their “lifetime.” Baseball fans flooded replies with two common names in rebuttal: Pujols and all-time MLB home run leader Barry Bonds.
Support for Pujols was abundant after the longtime Cardinals first baseman retired just two years ago. Some considered it a better measuring stick than Bonds, who made his MLB debut in the 1980s and retired in 2007, due to Bonds playing at the peak of the steroid era and not as commonly witnessed among young-adult and teenage baseball fans.
The Pujols-Judge debate even escalated to the point where sports betting platform FanDuel asked fans to “pick one player in their prime” between the two. By metrics of “reposts” and “favorites” collected on the posts, Judge narrowly leads Pujols, 206-175, as of Wednesday afternoon. Replies on the post also showed the debate is perhaps not as one-sided as you may think.
These were among the replies in favor of Pujols…
“Nobody knows where Judge’s career will end but we know through 9 seasons that Pujols was in a different stratosphere,” says one fan who cited seven Top-3 MVP finishes in Pujols’ first nine years.
“The answer is Albert Pujols and it’s not even close. Look at K/BB ratio between the two. Ops is .50 points higher and just all around better in every single way. I hate this comparison because Albert was a far superior all around hitter and judge is the far superior power hitter.”
“I LOVE Aaron Judge. He’s the best hitter in baseball right now, and I don’t think that’s really a debate. But prime Albert Pujols was on another level. One of the true ALL-TIME greats. Fun to compare their numbers though!”
These were among the replies in favor of Judge…
“Judge already has 2 seasons Pujols never even came close to.”
“Judge. Pujols obviously has longevity but judge now has 2 seasons better than Pujols’ best.
“Depends on what you define as prime, 5 years? I am taking Albert but 3 years I am taking Judge.”
It seems the debate comes down to whether baseball fans value an extended run of consistently high numbers, like Pujols, or a few monster seasons among the best statistically in baseball history, like Judge.
Here are a few other statistics and trends to consider when comparing Pujols and Judge….
First nine seasons
Judge is currently in his ninth MLB season. Here is how his career totals stack up against Pujols to this point…
| Albert Pujols | Aaron Judge | |
| Hits | 1,717 | 973 |
| Home Runs | 366 | 298 |
| Runs Batted In | 1,112 | 675 |
| Batting Average | .334 | .286 |
| On-base + Slugging | 1.055 | 1.003 |
Some notable considerations to keep in mind with this… Pujols had the benefit of debuting in Major League Baseball at the age of 21 and was pretty much a full-time starter out of the gate. Judge didn’t debut until he was 24 and wasn’t full-time until he was 25.
Single-season bests
Judge tops Pujols in single-season bests for home runs and could top his season bests in runs batted in and on-base-plus-slugging percentage this year.
| Albert Pujols | Aaron Judge | |
| Hits | 212 | 177 |
| Home Runs | 49 | 62 |
| Runs Batted In | 137 | 131 |
| Batting Average | .359 | .322* |
| On-base + Slugging | 1.114 | 1.157* |
Plate discipline
Pujols and Judge have shown similar abilities in drawing walks, but Pujols ranks significantly better in avoiding strikeouts.
| Albert Pujols | Aaron Judge | |
| Walks (Best Single-Season) | 115 | 127 |
| Walks (First Nine Years) | 811 | 652 |
| Strikeouts (Worst Single-Season) | 93 | 208 |
| Strikeouts (First Nine Years) | 570 | 1,161 |
Accolades
Take only his first nine years with the Cardinals, and Pujols leads Judge in most major accolades…
- MVP awards: Pujols 3, Judge 1
- All-Star selections: Pujols 8, Judge 6
- World Series titles: Pujols 1, Judge 0
- Silver Slugger awards: Pujols 5, Judge 3
- Batting titles (best batting average): Pujols 1, Judge 0
In conclusion
As a whole, the debate is certainly worth revisiting at the end of the 2024 season and after a few more years into Judge’s MLB career. Right now, there appears to be valid arguments that Pujols had a stronger longevity of his prime while Judge has a stronger peak in terms of performance.
Though Pujols and Judge shared seven season together in the league, the game has also changed in terms of pacing and the resources and technology available for pitchers to oppose hitters, which also makes it hard to clearly label either as the best hitter of someone’s lifetime or generation.
Meanwhile, Judge and the Yankees will host the Cardinals in New York for a Labor Day weekend series from Friday, Aug. 30 to Sunday, Sept. 1.
NOTE: Video attached to this story is from FOX 2 Sports Director Martin Kilcoyne’s one-on-one conversation with Albert Pujols in 2023, one year post retirement.