Michael Cuddyer Wins National League Batting Title

Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

With a final batting average of .331, Michael Cuddyer locked up the National League batting title Sunday afternoon. In what was once a closely contested battle, Cuddy distanced himself from Chris Johnson and Matt Carpenter and already had the title in his back pocket entering Sunday’s season finale.

At age 33, Cuddyer had arguably the best season of his career. That will surely lead to some eye-rolling about him playing at altitude and some inclinations to take away from his accomplishment. To this I present the following splits:

Cuddyer batted .356 at home and .311 on the road.

Cuddyer hit 11 home runs and nine home runs on the road.

Cuddyer drove in 45 runs at home and had 39 RBI on the road.

According to FanGraphs, his wRC+, which adjusts for league and park, is 140. That places him 18th in all of baseball, just behind Robinson Cano and teammate Troy Tulowitzki and ahead of players like Adrian Beltre, Allen Craig, and Giancarlo Stanton.

So let’s just say this: Cuddyer had a great season at Coors Field, but he did not have a great season because of Coors Field. That distinction is important, because Cuddyer had the kind of season that should only be celebrated and not poked at because of popular and often unfounded theories about playing baseball in Colorado.

Congrats Cuddy.