Cardinals: Pujols, Arenado and Goldschmidt slugging at historic rate

St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) celebrates with designated hitter Albert Pujols (5) and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt (46) after hitting a two run home run. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) celebrates with designated hitter Albert Pujols (5) and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt (46) after hitting a two run home run. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

Cardinals stars Albert Pujols, Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt have been historic players at launching baseballs.

The St. Louis Cardinals are known for having Hall of Famers throughout the generations. When it comes to slugging percentage though, few players in history have mashed the ball like Albert Pujols, Nolan Arenado, and Paul Goldschmidt.

Out of all active players, each of the Cardinals sluggers rank inside the top 10 in career slugging percentage (Pujols is 3rd, Arenado is 5th, and Goldschmidt is 6th). It is pretty historic to have three guys like this who do done damage with the baseball on the team team, and each of them are doing so at a high level again this year.

Goldschmidt ranks 3rd and Arenado 6th in all of baseball this year in slugging percentage, and is a large part of why the pair may finish first and second in MVP voting this year. The best players in the league are those who can hit the ball far consistently, and this duo does it with the best of them.

Although Pujols does not qualify for the leaderboards based on his limited at bats this year, he would slot in 12th on that list and has added 19 HR and 13 2Bs to the Cardinals lineup, and is currently chasing the historic 700 home run club. 

When looking at the scope of Major League history, it is not surprising to see Pujols rank 34th all-time in slugging percentage. If he has not had a few down years in Anaheim, he likely is even higher on that list. What may surprise some fans though is how high Arenado and Goldschmidt rank. Currently, Arenado ranks 42nd all-time in slugging and Goldschmidt ranks 55th. Having three of the top 55 guys in the history of baseball at destroying baseballs on your team is incredible.

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For any Cardinals historians out there, five other Cardinals legends rank in the top 55, showing just how historic of a ballclub St. Louis is. Pujols is retiring at the end of the 2022 season, so savor every moment we have left with this trio of baseball mashers.