St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols had a slow start to the season. Through the Cardinals first 10 games of the year on April 11th, Pujols was hitting just .150 with only 1 home run and just and 4 RBI's.
Pujols hardly looked like the offensive power house that he was throughout the first 10 years of his career. Many thought that the pressures of the highly publicized but very private contract negotiations may have been affecting Pujols.
But since then, over the Cardinals last 11 games, Pujols has raised his average to .250. A nice jump in average for sure, but hardly a resemblance of the slugger's career .330 average.
And while Albert's average is modestly higher over the last 11 games, his power and slugging are off the charts.
In the last 11 games, Pujols has blasted 6 home runs and knocked in 13 runs, the kind of production you would expect from a player supposedly requesting a 10 year, $300 million contract.
Pujols is currently tied for the league lead in home runs with 7 and tied for 4th in RBI's.
So while his average is certainly down for his standards, his power production is among the tops in major league baseball.
Pujols has also scored 14 of his 17 runs over that period and not coincidentally, with Albert's rise in productivity, the Cardinals are 7-4.
So while Pujols continues to struggle in the batting average department, he is slugging the ball all over the field, especially as of late, homering in 3 of the Cardinals last 5 games.
And what should be scary for his opponents and conducive the success of the Cardinals this season, if Pujols can push his average back to his career norms while maintaining this power clip, the Cardinals offense will be even more explosive.
A scary prospect for N.L. Central pitchers.
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| Albert Pujols is hitting just .250 on the season through the Cardinals first 21 games. But just as he always does, Pujols is slugging just as well as in year's past. - Photo courtesy of Getty Images |
Pujols hardly looked like the offensive power house that he was throughout the first 10 years of his career. Many thought that the pressures of the highly publicized but very private contract negotiations may have been affecting Pujols.
But since then, over the Cardinals last 11 games, Pujols has raised his average to .250. A nice jump in average for sure, but hardly a resemblance of the slugger's career .330 average.
And while Albert's average is modestly higher over the last 11 games, his power and slugging are off the charts.
In the last 11 games, Pujols has blasted 6 home runs and knocked in 13 runs, the kind of production you would expect from a player supposedly requesting a 10 year, $300 million contract.
Pujols is currently tied for the league lead in home runs with 7 and tied for 4th in RBI's.
So while his average is certainly down for his standards, his power production is among the tops in major league baseball.
Pujols has also scored 14 of his 17 runs over that period and not coincidentally, with Albert's rise in productivity, the Cardinals are 7-4.
So while Pujols continues to struggle in the batting average department, he is slugging the ball all over the field, especially as of late, homering in 3 of the Cardinals last 5 games.
And what should be scary for his opponents and conducive the success of the Cardinals this season, if Pujols can push his average back to his career norms while maintaining this power clip, the Cardinals offense will be even more explosive.
A scary prospect for N.L. Central pitchers.
Sources:
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