Cabrera, Hamilton Power Up

Joey Votto is the better pure hitter.  Adam Dunn, Jose Bautista and Giancarlo Stanton have more raw power.  Robinson Cano has the smoothest swing.  But there's no question that when it comes to hitting homers and driving in tons of runs, the top two power hitters right now are Miguel Cabrera and Josh Hamilton, both of whom are enjoying what could be the finest seasons of their careers.  For the latter, it couldn't come at a better time as he's just a few months away from free agency.  If he stays healthy (a big if, but I'm betting he will) and finishes the year with .300-45-135 numbers, possibly another MVP and his first World Series ring if everything goes according to plan, he should be all set to make a pretty good chunk of change.

Hamilton, who's gone yard five times in the past week after hitting just four in his previous 29 games, holds the advantage in the home run department.  The 2010 AL MVP is tied with Dunn for the major league lead with 34 big flies--already two more than his previous career high--and could be poised for the kind of awesome power binge he displayed in April and May. Miggy is locked in a four-way tie for third place with Josh Willingham, Edwin Encarnacion and Curtis Granderson, all of whom are sitting on 30 dingers.  Iinterestingly, seven of the top eight home run hitters to date play in the Junior Circuit, with Ryan Braun as the exception.  Cabrera has never socked 40 round-trippers in a single campaign--his personal best is 38--but with a strong September the seven time All-Star could clear that benchmark for the first time in his career.  Still, he doesn't figure to catch either Hamilton or Dunn, who still have an outside shot at 50 but will probably settle in the mid-forties.

Cabrera has a slight edge in runs batted in, leading Hamilton 103 to 101.  No one else has more than Willingham's 88.  The Detroit Tiger should have more than Hamilton, given that the former has the benefit of 53 additional plate appearances and has batted with 48 more runners on base this season.  MC Hammer seems to add to his growing RBI total everyday; he has already piled up 18 ribbies this month and has 47 in his past 46 games.  He's well on his way to blowing past his career high of 126 set two seasons ago.  Hamilton will keep getting plenty of chances to catch Cabrera with Ian Kinsler and Elvis Andrus setting the table for him, though.