Interesting note on Pujols

[Topnotchsy]

One interesting thing about Pujols's decline (which was highlighted in a recent article that I cannot find now) was the fact that unlike most players in decline, he has seen his walks drop off dramatically. Generally as a player ages their batting average will drop but their walks generally stay pretty consistent. For Pujols those, a player with far more walks than K's in his career, (and a player whose K rate was so low he once had a season with 49 homers and 50 K's) his walks have dropped while his K's have increased.

It's a really small sample size but I noticed that over the last 8 game Pujols has walked 8 times and K'd just once. While it is not enough time to tell I wonder whether he is still working his way back to form on some level, and while he will almost definitely never come close to the player he was in St. Louis, maybe we have not seen all he has to offer in LA.

Thoughts?

 

[JEBJJA]

I just don't think that stadium is a hitters park. What is Trout's splits on the road vs @ Anaheim in his career? Pujols struggles, Josh Hamilton's struggles, just makes me wonder.....a little.

 

[bobthewondercat77]

Look at his UIBB numbers, they have been more static. Indicates that his primary decline is bat speed (loss of power and LDs) rather than an issue with approach or pitch recognition.

1000 OPSes are the days of the past for king albert... But he is still a very good cleanup hitter for one of the best teams in mlb.

The big A plays fairly offense-neutral btw.

 

[pootshwan]

I just don't think that stadium is a hitters park. What is Trout's splits on the road vs @ Anaheim in his career? Pujols struggles, Josh Hamilton's struggles, just makes me wonder.....a little.

I   Split   G  GS   PA  AB   R   H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS  BB  SO   BA  OBP  SLG  OPS  TB GDP HBP IBB
     Home 230 227  999 842 168 249 50 10 44 126 42  4 129 188 .296 .391 .536 .927 451  15  13   9
     Away 226 220 1039 897 173 286 56 13 45 158 56  9 122 253 .319 .402 .561 .963 503   7  10   7

His Batting Average is higher on the road but he walks at a much higher rate at home, so his On base percentage is just .011 off. He also strikes out at a lower percentage at home. It seems like he is more patient at the plate while in Anaheim...

 

[darocker80]

another interesting note, his first name is Jose

 

[Ryan The Orange]

His strikeout total is still low, so the lack of walks is not as concerning as it is for other players.

And for a player "on the decline," it's hard to complain about a .276 average with 23 HR.

 

[mmier118]

Pujols was such a beast I'm sure a lot of pitchers were happy to issue a walk rather than challenge him back in the day. Now I think they are going to challenge him and make him beat them. Just a thought, a guess really.

I know it's taboo to say but I have always thought Albert was enhanced if you know what I mean, and when he got his contract he quit whatever he was on, the injuries and slower bat speed make more sense if that was the case. However I doubt that even if that is true that it would ever come out, and honestly seeing how bonds and company have been vilified I hope first off that Pujols was clean and if he wasn't I hope the cat never gets out of the bag.

 

[michaelstepper]

Planter fasciitis is a PAIN IN THE ASS and take a long time to recover from. After hearing that he suffered from that coming into Anaheim I wasn't surprised by the drop off. And dealing with that for what 2 years? I'm sure it changed his approach and swing enough he may still be working out some kinks

 

[Austin]

Planter fasciitis is a PAIN IN THE ASS and take a long time to recover from. After hearing that he suffered from that coming into Anaheim I wasn't surprised by the drop off. And dealing with that for what 2 years? I'm sure it changed his approach and swing enough he may still be working out some kinks

You can see Pujols wince in pain and gallop awkwardly almost every time he runs, especially going into second on a double. He's been playing through intense foot pain for years and it totally throws off his balance as a hitter. Reminds me of Mantle late in his career when the pain became unbearable.

You have to respect Pujols for playing through it and still being good, but it makes you wonder why LA would sign him to such a long-term deal knowing of this chronic pain.
I think Pujols will retire before his contract ends because he won't be able to run in a few years, and the balancing issue is throwing off his swing.

 

[lambert58]

So is the Pujols watch (new in tin) I found at a garage sale worth anything?

 

[CubsfanP]

Honestly, I believe a small part of why Trout has been so good is because he has Pujols behind him.

 

[Austin]

It's crazy that Pujols has seven years left on his contract (signed through 2021) and he turns 35 in less than five months.
He's playing through horrible pain and his power has virtually disappeared over the past two months (remember when he was leading the NL in homers with 16 early in the season?) He only has 23 now a few months later.

There's no way in hell he plays another seven years. He'll retire out of pride (and pain) before his contract ends.

I know some people discount batting average, but all of these .275 seasons is destroying his once stellar career batting average and other averaged stats like OPS that put him amongst the legends like Ted Williams, Stan Musial and Lou Gehrig.
Frank Thomas's career was similar, with a historic first half of his career, then a good but not great second half.