Albert Pujols' Baserunning Effort

[ELEVEN]

It's ironic. We get to pay $250 million to watch him decline and then go into the Hall of Fame as a Cardinal.

That will be the halfway point of his term as the face of our franchise.

[Glen]

I still don't understand how, if the swollen node prevented him from properly running the bases in one AB, he was OK for his next AB with more potential baserunning.  Does it randomly flare up and go away?  

[Docwaukee]

how about saying

 

"Hey Albert, I know this might seem completely ****ing obvious, but if you don't think you can make it to the next base standing up with relative ease, don't go"

[Jeff Fletcher]

I still don't understand how, if the swollen node prevented him from properly running the bases in one AB, he was OK for his next AB with more potential baserunning. Does it randomly flare up and go away?

Scioscia said he was fine to swing and he would have pinch run for him if he'd gotten on base.

I believe this was a case of laziness (age-appropriate, as it were) and a medical condition.

First he slowed down when he thought the ball wasn't coming to 2nd. That's no different than him slowing down on a routine grounder, which he and a lot of older guys do all the time. Call that laziness or lack of hustle but he does it all the time. He admitted he should have run through the bag.

But then once he saw that he had to crank it up again, he couldn't. He said he slowed down first and then it grabbed it when he tried to speed up, and he couldn't.

So it was bad all around.

[yk9001]

Can you complete your personal services contract when you have a golfball sized lymph node on your groin?

[Glen]

Scioscia said he was fine to swing and he would have pinch run for him if he'd gotten on base.

I believe this was a case of laziness (age-appropriate, as it were) and a medical condition.

First he slowed down when he thought the ball wasn't coming to 2nd. That's no different than him slowing down on a routine grounder, which he and a lot of older guys do all the time. Call that laziness or lack of hustle but he does it all the time. He admitted he should have run through the bag.

But then once he saw that he had to crank it up again, he couldn't. He said he slowed down first and then it grabbed it when he tried to speed up, and he couldn't.

So it was bad all around.

 

 

I appreciate your perspective and understand what you're saying was said, but...I just can't buy it.  What if he was in the same situation again, and his injury cost a potential base?  It seems to me like it's Scioscia being afraid to say no to Pujols (and this is the first time I've ever said something like that).

[mtangelsfan]

I appreciate your perspective and understand what you're saying was said, but...I just can't buy it.  What if he was in the same situation again, and his injury cost a potential base?  It seems to me like it's Scioscia being afraid to say no to Pujols (and this is the first time I've ever said something like that).

 

I see what you are saying but it can't cost an extra base if Albert isn't hitting.  We have no idea what the person hitting would do in his spot.

[Jeff Fletcher]

I appreciate your perspective and understand what you're saying was said, but...I just can't buy it. What if he was in the same situation again, and his injury cost a potential base? It seems to me like it's Scioscia being afraid to say no to Pujols (and this is the first time I've ever said something like that).

Pujols was fine to swing. And he run ok to handle 90 percent of the situations that would arise before they could pinch run for him.

[Docwaukee]

Pujols was fine to swing. And he run ok to handle 90 percent of the situations that would arise before they could pinch run for him.

Albert is 90% on 10% chances.  

[mulwin444]

Just my perspective but this seems like the "perfect storm" of Mike's stubborness in regards to vets and Pujol's hubris.  Mike will not drop Pujols because of who he was and Pujols will not rest because of who he still thinks he is right now.  If last season taught him anything, its that he can not play through injury and be effective in the line-up.  He's a .700 OPS hitter batting third and I feel like everyone wants to give him a participation ribbon whenever he happens to get a single with a runner on 2B.  I feel like Mike WOULD move him down but I think he's waiting for Pujols to approach him about the adjustment which, odds are, will not happen.   

[fan_since79]

Can't wait for ten years and you guys say the same thing about Trout. That is assuming he is still here.

 

 

I would imagine that Trout will still be quite effective in his late 30's. That's about 15 years from now, not ten years.

 

But you're right, he probably won't be here at that time.

[70runner]

A #3 hitter who can barely hit his weight, is horrible with RISP, and a slug on the bases is not the ticket to the postseason.  The Angels are making adjustments around him to improve their chances to make the postseason, yet avoid the clearest liability in the lineup: Pujols hitting 3rd.  If he doesn't screw things up with the bat (GIDP), his pace becomes a rally killer. 

 

Trout is tied for 7th in walks in all of MLB.  Sure he has a good eye, yet who would pitch to Trout with Pujols lumbering around in the batting circle?  Since Trout apparently won't attempt to steal with Pujols hitting, too often he becomes the first out in the Pujols GIDP.  So beyond just being a big hole in a key slot in the lineup, Pujols is having a detrimental effect on those around him, particularly Trout.

 

While Scioscia makes excuses for him...  

[fan_since79]

It's a mystery to me why Trout is no longer stealing bases. He has the highest SB percentage in baseball history.

 

If they're telling him not to steal, that's not right.

[Jim]

Nah, listen to the mods.

I'm just a hater with some inner need to be right.

Over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again. 

 

jk. Go get'em Homebrew, get it all out.

[Jim]

I still don't understand how, if the swollen node prevented him from properly running the bases in one AB, he was OK for his next AB with more potential baserunning.  Does it randomly flare up and go away?  

I'm going to say.... Yes?

[Jim]

Scioscia said he was fine to swing and he would have pinch run for him if he'd gotten on base.

I believe this was a case of laziness (age-appropriate, as it were) and a medical condition.

First he slowed down when he thought the ball wasn't coming to 2nd. That's no different than him slowing down on a routine grounder, which he and a lot of older guys do all the time. Call that laziness or lack of hustle but he does it all the time. He admitted he should have run through the bag.

But then once he saw that he had to crank it up again, he couldn't. He said he slowed down first and then it grabbed it when he tried to speed up, and he couldn't.

So it was bad all around.

I can see an argument for both sides as it pertains to this particular situation, and your explanation as to what everyone has said so far is a reasonable one.

 

The one part of this scenario that does not make much sense to me is the idea that if Albert had discovered pain in his attempt to start running again while going into second, then wouldn't it makes sense he could experience pain coming out of the batter’s box going to first in his next at bat? And with two outs, getting to first becomes much more crucial in that situation.

 

There simply seems to be more to this than just the swollen gland excuse. If anything, that excuse makes it more difficult to accept why the manager would continue on the path he did.

 

Somebody really needs to start doing what is right for the team, and not the individuals on the team.

[Inside Pitch]

Meh -- whatever..  He's hurt and playing through it fine..   Still doesn't get him him off the hook.  If he's hurting so much he can't leg out a sure double then he needs to either know that or be told to go station to station.   Either the coaches or the player are guilty of having been morons.   And IMO the blame is mostly on the player.

Edited June 30, 2014 by Inside Pitch

[mtangelsfan]

AW doctors are on the case!!!!

 

Seriously the lengths some go to blame Sosh for this is crazy.  The manager has to count on the player to be honest about whether they can go or not.  Pujols screwed up big time by not running all the way to second.  That is nobody's fault but his. 

 

However, if he says he can hit and run to first and that it was the running, then slowing down and then running again that hurt, what is sosh supposed to do, these are grown men.

[Inside Pitch]

AW doctors are on the case!!!!

 

Boon:  I thought you were pre-med?

Otter:  Whats the difference?

 

Animal House has valuable lessons for everything in life.

Edited June 30, 2014 by Inside Pitch

[AngelArcher]

I'm tired of the excuses. He can't ever just own up to something and said he f'd up. Worst part is the excuses aren't coming from his mouth, but from another grown man's mouth.

[mtangelsfan]

I'm tired of the excuses. He can't ever just own up to something and said he f'd up. Worst part is the excuses aren't coming from his mouth, but from another grown man's mouth.

 

So the foot injury last year was an excuse? 

[mtangelsfan]

Side note:  I hate that I'm in the position of defending Pujols.  He's been nothing short of awful this season.  Bad baserunning, bad hitting, average fielding at best.  I just think this criticism is silly and just another way to blame Sosh for things that aren't his doing.

 

Call him out for his silly lineups and predisposition to favor vets all you want but this isn't on him it is on the man who didn't hustle into second base, the same man who said he was fine to hit.

[stormngt]

Who knows? He might fall off and then you all will hate on him.

I would imagine that Trout will still be quite effective in his late 30's. That's about 15 years from now, not ten years.

But you're right, he probably won't be here at that time.

[beatlesrule]

If Trout ran more, Pujols wouldn't be able to gidp's nearly as much.  Scioscia had Ibanez hitting 4th for awhile and he was brand new to the team.  Pujols has been here for over 2 years and is a hall of famer with a massive contract.  There is no way Scioscia's stubborness is going to move him out of the 3 hole.  Please just get used to it.  You will sleep easier at night knowing that Scioscia and Pujols have lost their minds.

 

I put all the blame on Arte.  He is the one that gave Scioscia that 10 year contract and he is the one that let's him have so much power.  Aside from a massive protest from fans, Scioscia is our manager for another 4 years and Pujols is probably our number 3 hitter for at least that long.  Is this a reasonable assumption?  I asked David Puddy's 8 ball jacket and it says all signs point to yes.

[Jim]

AW doctors are on the case!!!!

 

Seriously the lengths some go to blame Sosh for this is crazy.  The manager has to count on the player to be honest about whether they can go or not.  Pujols screwed up big time by not running all the way to second.  That is nobody's fault but his. 

 

However, if he says he can hit and run to first and that it was the running, then slowing down and then running again that hurt, what is sosh supposed to do, these are grown men.

That doesn't seem to be working with Albert. 

 

I'm not even pretending to act as a doctor. I said nothing about the condition itself, just the results on the field I could discern from when they happen as a result of the condition, the condition they all knew about.

 

Start Albert or don't, whatever. But after witnessing what happened on that play, and hearing in Albert's own words that he felt pain attempting to run again after lagging a bit coming into second, I would think I should play manager and do what's in the best interest of my team and bat a guy with the greatest chance of being successful in that spot. If you think that's Albert, then fine. 

 

I'd say be a grown man manager and put a guy at the plate with ability to run to first base with no issues.