They say the mark of a Hall of Fame hitter is how he performed against elite competition.
Of course, people might have different ways of measuring and determining whether a specific player is Cooperstown-worthy.
Some look at the total, accumulated stats, other watch the rate stats, and others look at the accolades: MVP awards, All-Star Games, etc.
How the player fared against the elite of the elite, however, is a good measure, too.
In this particular regard, Colorado Rockies legend Todd Helton was a master of his craft.
MLB insider Jon Morosi shared a conclusive piece of data that the Rockies’ PR department helped come up with.
“Todd Helton batted .369 over 195 career at-bats against nine pitchers currently in the @baseballhall. Their names: Maddux, R. Johnson, Glavine, Hoffman, Smoltz, Halladay, Mussina, Rivera, Martinez. Thanks to Cory Little of @Rockies PR for this great note,” he tweeted.
Todd Helton batted .369 over 195 career at-bats against nine pitchers currently in the @baseballhall.
Their names: Maddux, R. Johnson, Glavine, Hoffman, Smoltz, Halladay, Mussina, Rivera, Martinez.
Thanks to Cory Little of @Rockies PR for this great note.@MLBNetwork @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) January 25, 2024
Wow.
That’s absolutely amazing.
You might say some players “luck” into a high batting average over a small sample size.
However, this is not the case: 195 at-bats, while not a whole lot, is not a small sample.
What he did against the likes of Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Roy Halladay, Mike Mussina, Pedro Martinez, Mariano Rivera, and Trevor Hoffman is nothing short of amazing.
Almost a .400 batting average!
That’s when you realize that Helton was one of the most talented hitters of his generation.
He overcame a chronic back problem late in his career to post a lifetime .316 batting average and a .953 OPS,
Those are incredible rate stats.
He also hit 369 home runs and took the Rockies (!) to the 2007 World Series.
He was one of a kind, and he is now where he belongs.
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