Is vintage Pujols back?

[Inside Pitch]

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.

 

You beat me to it ..    He's not likely going to hit 335 anymore either but again, the landscape has changed.   It's early still but he currently has the best K rate of his career.  Again, it's pure folly to think his offense would carry over into his mid to late 30s -- but a 950 OPS from a 34 year old Pujols is as close to "vintage" as we could possibly hope for.

[Guest]

I love seeing this dude continue his great hitting, it's more than a hot streak IMO. Hopefully he'll bring back the Pujols we remember and fear

[haloeast]

he is looking fastball a lot ...and having problems on the off-speed stuff ...but still headed for comeback player of the year at this rate ...I am not sure if we could ask for more right now

[Angels]

I don't think anyone here said that offense isn't down or that a .950 OPS season isn't a lot greater now than it was during Pujols' heyday. I am hoping for a season similar to his 2011. Not vintage Pujols, but a fine player. And I think that is the best case scenario.

Edited April 19, 2014 by Angels

[Chimi]

There was an interesting stat in today's game. Every home run Pujols has had with the Angels has been a pull HR. He hasn't hit an opposite field HR since 2011.

[ten ocho recon scout]

There was an interesting stat in today's game. Every home run Pujols has had with the Angels has been a pull HR. He hasn't hit an opposite field HR since 2011.

seems about right, and I thinks its pretty telling (if accurate).

I think at his age he probably has to cheat it a bit more, which is understandable. But its also the reason we see so many weak grounders to the left, and why defenses are shifting on him now. He used to be a pole to pole hitter but has become pull happy these last few years.

If he still hits 30 with above average on base skills ill gladly take it. But hes no longer 'vintage' pujols.

But like IP said in terms of current offense, ill gladly take contemporary pujols.

[markb]

There was an interesting stat in today's game. Every home run Pujols has had with the Angels has been a pull HR. He hasn't hit an opposite field HR since 2011.

 

They're just making things up.  

 

http://m.mlb.com/video/v27181557/cwslaa-pujols-cranks-a-tworun-shot-in-the-fourth/?query=pujols

 

http://m.mlb.com/video/v27876073/laabos-pujols-smacks-solo-shot-to-rightcenter/?query=pujols

 

 

Angels:  http://www.brooksbaseball.net/h_spray.php?player=405395&time=month&minmax=ci&var=count&s_type=15&endDate=04/19/2014&startDate=03/31/2012

 

Cards:  http://www.brooksbaseball.net/h_spray.php?player=405395&time=month&minmax=ci&var=count&s_type=15&endDate=09/30/2011&startDate=03/31/2008

 

There's definitely a shift, but it's not as dramatic as people are making it out to be.  He's always been a pull hitter.

[Inside Pitch]

They're just making things up.  

 

http://m.mlb.com/video/v27181557/cwslaa-pujols-cranks-a-tworun-shot-in-the-fourth/?query=pujols

 

http://m.mlb.com/video/v27876073/laabos-pujols-smacks-solo-shot-to-rightcenter/?query=pujols

 

 

Angels:  http://www.brooksbaseball.net/h_spray.php?player=405395&time=month&minmax=ci&var=count&s_type=15&endDate=04/19/2014&startDate=03/31/2012

 

Cards:  http://www.brooksbaseball.net/h_spray.php?player=405395&time=month&minmax=ci&var=count&s_type=15&endDate=09/30/2011&startDate=03/31/2008

 

There's definitely a shift, but it's not as dramatic as people are making it out to be.  He's always been a pull hitter.

 

/wave  these are not the droids you are looking for...

[seenoevil]

Um, should I tell him or does someone else want to?

i know He got hurt moron, im referring to the offseaon and preparation up till the regular season

[seenoevil]

let him figure it out himself

 

How about you figure it out idiot. The real training is done before the regular season. Hamilton got off to a nice start and Pujols did well in training camp. I think Baylor was very helpful. The hitting has been much better this season as a whole. It's much better start than last season with basically the same core of players with the exception of not having Trumbo

Edited April 20, 2014 by seenoevil

[haloman]

Because of Alberts injuries i think teams started to pitch him hard inside. Once teams begin to realize that he's healthy and destroying balls inside like last night, they'll pitch outside and Albert hits to opposite field will increase.

[markb]

What I don't get about this is, how does the league average offense affect an individual's performance over the years? For a player that wasn't on steroids, why would his numbers be lower in today's game? There haven't been any changes to the pitching mound or the baseball itself to reduce hitting as far as I know.

 

Widespread use of advanced statistics.  PITCHF/x, defensive shifts, etc.   It's considerably easier to identify and exploit player weaknesses in today's game as compared to a decade ago.  

[dimitrig]

I just hope the guy can stay on the field. That's my biggest concern.

[gurn67]

I don't know if he'll ever be what he was, but I'll know when other teams feel he's back when they start intentionally walking him with RISP like they routinely did until his last season in St. Louis when he started swinging at too many balls out of the zone.

[Second Base]

Pujols hasn't necessarily changed offensively. If he's healthy, he's going to be an elite hitter(for now at least). But you have to keep an eye in his knees, feet, wrists and elbows.

So to me, there's no question of whether or not he has returned to form, it's whether or not he's healthy and whether or not he'll remain healthy.

If you can answer that, you should be employed and paid a lot of money.

[Inside Pitch]

What I don't get about this is, how does the league average offense affect an individual's performance over the years? For a player that wasn't on steroids, why would his numbers be lower in today's game? There haven't been any changes to the pitching mound or the baseball itself to reduce hitting as far as I know.

And shouldn't the lack of steroids make the game's pitchers worse, since many of them were juicing as well? Or is the current crop of pitchers in the league just better than the early 2000s? I get that compared to the league a .950 OPS is better than it used to be, but a player's OPS shouldn't be any lower now just because the rest of the league is worse.

 

The point of normalized stats is to compare players dominance to that of other players in a neutral setting.   It's not like the only change in AP's situation is his age -- he's gone from the NL to the AL, from a neutral park to a decidedly pitcher friendly park.   All those things factor into his individual numbers and how he should be viewed.

 

There are a lot of theories as to why pitching is dominating right now, one of them is just the reality that pitchers are throwing harder than ever.   Throw in the advance metrics being applied, and all the information available as to how to attack a hitter and boom, offense takes a hit.

[NrM]

Pujols currently has a 173 OPS+

His career OPS+ is 165.

 

Pretty awesome stuff from pujols thus far. Really surprised.