http://halohangout.com/2013/06/17/240-million-whoopsie/
$240 Million Whoopsie?MICHAEL HLLYWA 59 minutes ago
Last night’s game featured a lot of different things. Peter Bourjos made a nice running and slightly leaping catch against the wall. The Angels offense scored five runs off of two of the better relievers in baseball, one of them being Mariano Rivera. It also featured a snapshot off what Angels fans have come to expect in the short time that Albert Pujols has been an Angel.
With two outs and the bases loaded. Pujols stepped into the box against Mo. Two surefire Hall of Famers, a moment for fans to stop what they are doing and pay attention. At least, five years ago they would have done that. In Albert’s prime, he was must-see TV, and this at-bat would have been an epic battle worthy of a Hollywood big screen. Yesterday, it was anything but. Pujols watched strike one, fouled off strike two, and then struck out on an up-and-in fastball with a weak “please don’t hurt me” swing.
When Pujols signed with the Angels, he held a career slash line of .328/.420/.617. He was two years removed from a string of seven seasons where he put up a WAR of at least 8.0. For comparisons sake, only two other players have ever rattled of seven straight 8+ WAR seasons.
Those players are Willie Mays, and Babe Ruth.
Much was made about how Pujols was seemingly entering his decline years with three straight years where his OPS had dropped (1.101 in 2009 to .906 in 2011). But we were reassured by Jerry Dipoto that even if Pujols was becoming merely mortal as a baseball player, that he would still be a highly valuable player. And Angels fans believed it, because that made sense.
Well, Angels fans are now getting to see what a “merely mortal” Albert Pujols looks like. And I for one, am really disappointed that I bought his shirsey.
As an Angel, Albert’s slash line sits at a mediocre-at-best .276/.338/.493, thanks in large part to his hot streak to close out the 2012 season. Mistake pitches that he used to crush, are now fly outs to the warning track. Joe Posnanski wrote a month ago about how Albert Pujols is now irrelevant, and I can’t find an argument against that, even though I desperately want to.
Through yesterday, Pujols has a slash line .256/.327/.439. To put that into perspective, Brett Gardner has a higher slugging percentage than Pujols does this season. Yeah, that Brett Gardner.
But somehow, just putting up the numbers doesn’t feel, enough. it doesn’t feel like it’s driving the point home.
They say that a picture is worth 1,000 words, so, how about a few pictures to illustrate Albert’s power drop since 2008?
2008 SLG% by pitch location
$240 Million Whoopsie?MICHAEL HLLYWA 59 minutes ago
Last night’s game featured a lot of different things. Peter Bourjos made a nice running and slightly leaping catch against the wall. The Angels offense scored five runs off of two of the better relievers in baseball, one of them being Mariano Rivera. It also featured a snapshot off what Angels fans have come to expect in the short time that Albert Pujols has been an Angel.
With two outs and the bases loaded. Pujols stepped into the box against Mo. Two surefire Hall of Famers, a moment for fans to stop what they are doing and pay attention. At least, five years ago they would have done that. In Albert’s prime, he was must-see TV, and this at-bat would have been an epic battle worthy of a Hollywood big screen. Yesterday, it was anything but. Pujols watched strike one, fouled off strike two, and then struck out on an up-and-in fastball with a weak “please don’t hurt me” swing.
When Pujols signed with the Angels, he held a career slash line of .328/.420/.617. He was two years removed from a string of seven seasons where he put up a WAR of at least 8.0. For comparisons sake, only two other players have ever rattled of seven straight 8+ WAR seasons.
Those players are Willie Mays, and Babe Ruth.
Much was made about how Pujols was seemingly entering his decline years with three straight years where his OPS had dropped (1.101 in 2009 to .906 in 2011). But we were reassured by Jerry Dipoto that even if Pujols was becoming merely mortal as a baseball player, that he would still be a highly valuable player. And Angels fans believed it, because that made sense.
Well, Angels fans are now getting to see what a “merely mortal” Albert Pujols looks like. And I for one, am really disappointed that I bought his shirsey.
As an Angel, Albert’s slash line sits at a mediocre-at-best .276/.338/.493, thanks in large part to his hot streak to close out the 2012 season. Mistake pitches that he used to crush, are now fly outs to the warning track. Joe Posnanski wrote a month ago about how Albert Pujols is now irrelevant, and I can’t find an argument against that, even though I desperately want to.
Through yesterday, Pujols has a slash line .256/.327/.439. To put that into perspective, Brett Gardner has a higher slugging percentage than Pujols does this season. Yeah, that Brett Gardner.
But somehow, just putting up the numbers doesn’t feel, enough. it doesn’t feel like it’s driving the point home.
They say that a picture is worth 1,000 words, so, how about a few pictures to illustrate Albert’s power drop since 2008?
2008 SLG% by pitch location
