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Is vintage Pujols back?


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I love his hits that are not grounders through the left side. Last night he had a few line drives up the middle.

What in hell is wrong with a grounder through the left side? A hit is a hit. The box score doesn't award style points for singles.

Next thing you will be complaining about him hitting home runs into the visitor bullpen instead of the right field bleachers.

Edited by Eric Notti
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Adjusting for park factor and post steroid era, he's definitely been the pujols of old in that short stretch.

I think the angels make the playoffs if he keeps it up. It's such a tiny sliver of sample size, though. 
I think he'll be somewhere in between his slow start and hot streak.

Edited by Poozy
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What in hell is wrong with a grounder through the left side? A hit is a hit. The box score doesn't award style points for singles.

Next thing you will be complaining about him hitting home runs into the visitor bullpen instead of the right field bleachers.

 

Do I really have to explain to you why line drives up the middle are a better indicator of success for Pujols than a ground ball that finds the hole in the left side? When Pujols pulls everything he will hit .250 with occasional homeruns and grounders which find holes. When he uses the whole field he will hit at a MVP level. 

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Vintage Pujols stayed in St Louis, but he's starting to look a lot better at the plate, and most importantly, he's got 5 HR's already. That shows that his legs are healthy

 

Was hoping for a .280+ BA and 30 HR's....so far things look to be on that track. Hopefully he stays hot because he and Trout need to carry this team until Hamilton and Calhoun get back into the lineup

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I think right now it's a matter of him getting back his timing. His bat speed and balance look terrific, but his timing is just off, and so he's pulling things. But, he can really turn on a pitch right now. The three of his home runs I've seen (via TV) have been really quick line drive home runs that he's gotten his hands around quickly on. Watching the slow motion camera on him last night, his balance on his home run looked really good. I think he could be physically fine and just working his way back on his timing. Here's hoping. 

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Do I really have to explain to you why line drives up the middle are a better indicator of success for Pujols than a ground ball that finds the hole in the left side? When Pujols pulls everything he will hit .250 with occasional homeruns and grounders which find holes. When he uses the whole field he will hit at a MVP level. 

 

Success is getting a hit. Everything else is just fodder for a message board where everyone thinks they have some key or answer to success.

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Some encouraging signs in the numbers:

 

- His BABIP is only .241, well below his career of .305 and even below last year's .258 and 2012's .285. I don't think Albert's a .300+ BABIP hitter anymore, but he isn't a .241 one either, so once it goes up back to .280ish, his BA will rise as well.

 

- His ISO (isolated power, or SLG-AVG) is .294 - higher than his career of .278 and his best since 2009. While its too early to get excited about ISO, its still encouraging.

 

- His LD% is lower at 15.9% than his career average of 19%, which had me worried at first. But two things to consider: One, his LD% last year, the worst of his career, was quite high at 19.8%. Two, his LD% in 2009--one of his very best seasons was even lower than this year, at 15.6%. The point being, LD% isn't a particularly good indicator for Albert.

 

Anyhow, I stand by my view that Albert will have a very good year, if not vintage Albert. I'd put the over/under at something like .290/.900 and 4 WAR, but wouldn't be surprised if he has his best year since 2010.

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He's been playing somewhat injuried. Hopefully, it doesn't get worse.

@MikeDiGiovanna: MGR Mike Scioscia said #Angels 1B Albert Pujols has dealt with bone bruise in L heel since week one but doesn't "think it's an issue."

@MikeDiGiovanna: Pujols was hobbled in 2013 by plantar fasciitis in L heel. Aggravated it in first week of season stepping on a bag. #Angels

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Pujols is on pace for almost 60 HR. That's obviously not going to continue.. as much as I hope it does. And vintage Pujols took a lot of walks and got on base at a very high rate. This one does not. Vintage Pujols also had a higher BABIP than this current version.

I would gladly take a .900 OPS from him if doable.

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So, AP's OPS+ with the Cardinals was 170, he was at 162 before today -- might be at or above 170 after the HR.....  At what point do people start to realize that the game has changed and a .950 OPS Pujols is pretty much as close to Vintage Pujols as anyone could hope for??

When his OBP and approach at the plate resembles his career OBP/Approach at the plate, or at least closer to it.

Edited by Halos of Anaheim
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Pujols is on pace for almost 60 HR. That's obviously not going to continue.. as much as I hope it does. And vintage Pujols took a lot of walks and got on base at a very high rate. This one does not. Vintage Pujols also had a higher BABIP than this current version.

I would gladly take a .900 OPS from him if doable.

 

Pujols's walk rate during his peak years was heavily padded by IBBs.  From '08-'10 116 of his 322 walks were intentional.  No doubt as he ages and the bat slows down he's going to cheat a bit more and fall off, but it's not nearly as significant as the stat sheet shows.  Although, with Hamilton out and our cleanup spot looking as sketchy as it does, and Pujols being Pujols again, teams might start going this route, especially once Trout starts getting more opportunities to steal.  First base open and a black hole behind him, many teams will take their chances and put him on.

Edited by markb
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He's been playing somewhat injuried. Hopefully, it doesn't get worse.

@MikeDiGiovanna: MGR Mike Scioscia said #Angels 1B Albert Pujols has dealt with bone bruise in L heel since week one but doesn't "think it's an issue."

@MikeDiGiovanna: Pujols was hobbled in 2013 by plantar fasciitis in L heel. Aggravated it in first week of season stepping on a bag. #Angels

Does this make anyone else squirm?

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