Albert Pujols one of the last of a dying breed in MLB

MLB veteran Albert Pujols added another accomplishment to his large mantle of milestones. It further cements his Cooperstown status but is also marking the end of truly unique hitters.

I want to start by asking you a question: Who, in the current MLB, would you compare to that of Albert Pujols?

There is the immediate answer that comes to mind (Miguel Cabrera), there is the next great pure hitter (Mike Trout), but beyond that, the mind goes blank.

When Pujols made the roster in his 2001 rookie season, what were we to expect? A great young athlete who just dominated opposing pitchers on route to an all-star game, a rookie of the year trophy and a top-five finish in the MVP voting.

A majority of rookies drop off after a hot first year. Pitchers do more research, the hitter begins to overthink and sometimes you end up in a career slump as soon as you had started; not Pujols.

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It wasn’t until 2013 that Pujols was not in the MVP conversation. During that 12-year stretch, he collected three of the coveted awards, eight all-star selections, five silver sluggers and two gold gloves.

But what does this all have to do with him being the last of a dying breed? It is because, in the growing analytical age, we may never have a hitter as dominant and consistent as Albert Pujols again.

The two I already mentioned in Cabrera and Trout are the last two that come to immediate thought who have played their careers as consistently and dominated hitters every single year.

Think back in history to others who just played complete seasons from start to finish: Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Alex Rodriguez, Tony Gwynn, and just the other greats to just always find a way against opposing pitchers.

Think about who is playing right now who you would consider the next crop of great MLB hitters, and consider how good they are from year to year.

Let’s use Kris Bryant as an example. Rookie of the year in 2015, MVP the next year, but then what? In 2017 the numbers decreased and then he battled injury the next year; taking away one of his prime years.

We were talking about Bryant in the same conversation of great third basemen Like Rodriguez and Mike Schmidt and now he is working to get back to a status he had now three years ago.

Bryce Harper, who signed the largest contract in history this past offseason, has a rookie of the year, an MVP, but last season was by far his worst, hitting just .249; his second-lowest in just an eight-year career.

If you even want to look towards Cody Bellinger and Christian Yelich, who have torn up the National League this season, Bellinger followed up his rookie of the year performance poorly; missing the all-star game and being left out the MVP conversation he had entered the previous season.

Yelich put together his best season to date last year when he won the MVP, but to that point he had not produced at the level, he did last season in his seven years to this point.

So I ask again, who, in the current league, would you compare to that of Pujols?

Will we ever see another hitter in MLB perform at the level of Albert Pujols again? Is Trout the last one? Who is the next great hitter from start to finish?