Pujols

[nverhoev]

Any angels fans here?

I would be freaking out with that contract... . I'm thinking he turns it around but it must be getting hard for their fans to stomach the rough start. Only 9 seasons after this to go .

[cheekimonk]

ESPNtheMag's preview focused on the Angels getting him and Wilson from the Rangers. It was nothing but praise, praise, praise...and then a little note towards the end about how some of Pujols' sabers had slipped a little the last couple of years. I'm not a hater, but I've never thought of him as one of the "great" hitters. When a guy is hitting pitches out of the park that weren't even near the plate, that's not fundamentals...that's just freak athleticism. The fact that he spent years swinging at those is a bad sign even though he had eye-popping numbers because when his arm/wrist speed and flexibility start to wane he'll have years of retraining his eye. Andruw Jones got away with the same thing in Atlanta with Bobby Cox trying to tell him that he couldn't keep yanking those outside-corner pitches over the LF fence and he kept on swinging. I'm not saying Pujols is done, but when guys like him fall off it's not gradually...they crash.

Compare that to Ichiro, Tony Gwynn, George Brett, etc. Those guys can/could keep swinging well into their 40s because they've got a repeatable swing and they're applying it to hittable pitches.

[Al-Hoot]

Hey.
I'm not sure if Babe Ruth wasn't the same kind of swinger (on the field) as Pujols.

Anyway, speaking of the Rangers, we fans are concerned, but not surprised, that Josh Hamilton has a back injury. Hopefully not serious.





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[jiminyhopkins]

With all that has happened to the Tigers lately, I expect to read next about how Miguel Cabrera was found passed out on the sidewalk in front of Comerica Park. In his underwear. While the rest of the Tigers are on a road trip.

[jcrmoon42]

Interesting thoughts on why he is struggling, but not one of the "great" hitters? I can't imagine what your definition of "great" is if he doesn't qualify. Pujols has spent his career with people watching his eminently repeatable swing and trying to teach it to others. Ironically, it seems that he has been lauded his whole career for having one of the most repeatable swings in baseball.

As for hitting balls out of the strike zone, there have been stories through all of baseball history of great hitters being able to hit balls out of the park that shouldn't have been hittable at all. I have no doubt Pujols is no different. However, to suggest that he has made his career out of hitting balls out of the strike zone just isn't reasonable or logical. Nobody is good enough to swing at everything and get hits. I found data at FanGraphs from 2006 showing that Pujols wasn't hitting balls out of the strike zone any more often or more successfully than anyone else as best as I can interpret it. Truth is that he is now swinging at more balls out of the strike zone than he ever has. This could be because he is pressing. It could also be because he is not seeing the ball as well as he once did. There are certainly other possibilities as well.

I'm not suggesting that he is absolutely going to come back to his previous form. Still, he was every bit the hitter in the playoffs last year that he had been previously. I doubt much has changed since then. However, to suggest he hasn't been one of the greatest hitters ever is just silly, and the comparison to Ichiro, Brett and Gwynn is also kind of silly. Those guys wouldn't put themselves in the same galaxy with Pujols and would laugh if you suggested that they were.

[nverhoev]

.208/.255/.292 now through 102 PA's. I'm pretty confident that he'll finish better than that but it's going to be hard to turn it around with all the attention he's getting now.

[salas]

Let's not forget that he is adjusting to AL pitching and AL strike zones. It's only May 2...by June 2, I predict .275/.325/.350....by the Break, who knows??

[mrbornac]

I have two words for you guys. Adam Dunn

[nverhoev]

I have two words for you guys. Adam Dunn

Very true.

As a blue jays fan I'm also happy that his struggles have overshadowed Jose Bautista's slow start as well.

[salas]

Let's not forget that he is adjusting to AL pitching and AL strike zones. It's only May 2...by June 2, I predict .275/.325/.350....by the Break, who knows??

Shoot, I forgot to update this last month, but still...pretty good guesstimate...

.271/.331/.458.


Now another one: .300, 30 HR by season's end.