Pujols Gets a Slow Start in the AL

To start, I’m well aware that only 5% of the season has passed, I’m also well aware of what that means in terms of sample size, however 40 plate appearances for Albert Pujols and his stats tell a tale of a man who’s not yet comfortable at the plate. Pujols hasn’t exactly faced the cream of the crop yet in AL pitching facing the likes of Phil Hughes, Jonathan Sanchez, and Luke Hochevar  he hasn’t quite gotten things going. He’s gotten 3 walks, 3 doubles, and has reached base 12 times overall, but he has yet to hit a homerun in what is now the longest streak of his career to open a season without going yard. There’s no reason to believe that he won’t be able to get his bat up to snuff, but for a man who usually puts about 42 balls out of the park, this is not the start that LA was hoping for with their new slugger.

It should be noted that while Pujols’ last season in St. Louis was not his best, to the contrary, it may well have been his worst. His stat line across the board is still quite impressive, it just wasn’t Pujols impressive. Having put together his worst batting average (.299), on base percentage (.366), slugging percentage (.541),  and grounding into more double plays (29) than ever before, he still hit 37 home runs, stole 9 bases on 10 attempts, and had 29 doubles. His RBI total was the lowest in his career (99) and his run total wasn’t up to what we’d expect either, but those are pretty heavily influenced by the people around him, so those can be taken with a grain of salt.

It bears noting that Pujols played through the majority of what should have been 6 weeks on the DL with a broken forearm last season, and has been dealing with a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament for several years now. In case you’re scratching your head about that one, that’s the ligament replaced during Tommy John Surgery. That’s right, If Pujols was a pitcher, he’d have had to bite the bullet and ride the pine for a year, but instead he has had 2 off season surgeries to keep the elbow manageable, and while he would likely not tell anyone if it was bothering him, this should certainly be looked at as a long term risk factor for the Angels, if not a cause for some for some of these early season woes if they are to continue.

Overall, I can’t say I expect this slow start to carry on much longer, but given his previous injuries, if they do carry through the next 5 - 10 games, it might be a cause for his new team to sit him down and see what his health status really is.