Colorado Rockies: what Larry Walker’s Hall of Fame troubles mean for Todd Helton

Offensively

Offensively, the two are very similar.

Batting average: Walker .313 and Helton .316

On-base percentage: Walker .400 and Helton .414

Slugging percentage: Walker .565 and Helton .539

Runs: Walker 1355 and Helton 1401

However, the main kicker here is OPS+, which adjusts to parks played in and the era that player played in. With this, it’s still close, but a winner is clear.

OPS+: Walker 141 and Helton 133.

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Career peaks of Walker and Helton

For Walker, it is fair to say that Walker’s peak was from 1992 through 2002. Outside of these seasons, the only awards that he came close to getting was in 1990, when he was came in seventh in NL Rookie of the Year voting. He also never had more than 19 home runs and 79 RBI outside of these seasons. Between 1992 and 2002, Walker averaged 125 games played per season with 94 runs, 147 hits, 33 doubles, 27 home runs, 92 RBI, 16 stolen bases, a .327/.410/.602 slash line (compared to his .313/.400/.602 career slash line), and an OPS+ of 147 (compared to his career OPS+ of 141).

In comparison, Helton’s peak was from 1998 through 2009 so his peak is one year longer than Walker’s. Helton did not rank in anything outside of these seasons. His average season in this period of time looked like this: 148 games, 101 runs, 176 hits, 42 doubles, 27 home runs, 99 RBI, a .329/.428/.568 slash line (compared to a .316/.414/.539 slash line in his career) and an OPS+ of 141 (compared to 133 in his career).