Power Players Poll of the Week

Author:
SI Staff
Publish date:
May 27, 2010

Power Players Poll of the Week

Albert Pujols

Who'll win the Cy Young awards this year? Which pitcher will have the most strikeouts? Those questions and others will be posed by SI.com over the next two months in a series of poll galleries with a ballot on the last frame. This week's question: Who'll lead the majors in home runs? Pujols has never topped 50 home runs in a single season, but he's also never hit less fewer 32 in any of his first nine years. Albert can mash with the game's biggest boppers, which also makes him a favorite to win his fourth NL MVP trophy.

Prince Fielder

Prince proves a good pedigree can go a long way. Dad Cecil hit 51 dingers in 1990. The younger Fielder blasted 50 in 2007, and 46 in 2009. Will the burly Brewer finally top his dad's highest total?

Ryan Howard

With a fat new contract on the books, the Phillies expect Howard to crank plenty of homers this season. That shouldn't be too difficult for the big lefty, since he's launched at least 45 bombs each of the last four seasons.

Mark Reynolds

Reynolds may be more famous for his strikeout totals than his home-run count, but one thing's for sure -- he's always swinging for the fences. In 2009, the D-Backs third baseman crushed 44 roundtrippers, and already has double-digit homers for 2010.

Mark Teixeira

Tex hit 153 homers in five seasons with the Rangers. After bouncing from Texas to the Braves to the Angels, he finally found a home in New York before the start of the 2009 season. And so far he seems to be enjoying hitting in front of Alex Rodriguez, as Teixeira hit 39 longballs in '09, tied for the most in the American League.

Ryan Braun

Braun wasted no time establishing himself as a power threat upon being called up to the big leagues. In his rookie season of 2007, he hit 34 homers, and the Hebrew Hammer followed that up with 37 and 32 the last two years.

Evan Longoria

Longoria already has eight home runs through May 12, putting him on pace to set a new career high. As a rookie in 2008, he blasted 27, and last season, 33. But does the young star have enough pop to lead the majors?

Paul Konerko

Often overlooked as one of the game's best power hitters, Konerko reached the 40-homer mark in back-to-back seasons in 2004 and 2005. He's already launched 13 bombs through May 12, the most in the majors to date.

Adrian Gonzalez

Even playing in the game's most pitcher-friendly home ballpark and with trade talks swirling, Gonzo has managed to blast six homers through May 12. That should be no surprise, considering he launched 40 and 36 each of the last two seasons.

Carlos Pe&#241;a

Pena has bounced around the bigs since breaking in with Texas in 2001, including stints with Detroit, Boston and Oakland. His power has always been legit, though, and he's proved since joining the Rays for the 2007 season. He hit 46 longballs that year and had 39 last season, tying him with Mark Teixeira for the most in the AL.

Power Players Poll of the Week