The Prospectus Hit Lis... (05/11)
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May 11, 2012 BP UnfilteredPeople and Entities Out-Walking Albert PujolsPardon me for hitting this point again and again, but it's by far the most fascinating part of Albert Pujols' season so far. Anybody can go into a home run drought; the difference between a home run and a flyout is, what, the width of a cuticle? It's very easy for a home-run hitter to not hit a home run. They do it all the time. But to not walk is just so deliberate, and significant. Barry Bonds never went more than seven games without a walk. Adam Dunn has never gone more than nine games without a walk. Walks don't just disappear for no reason, and Albert Pujols' walks have disappeared, and they have disappeared not just for a month but since last year's All-Star break. Delmon Young now has as many unintentional walks as Albert Pujols since last year's break. I'm not just piling on because he's in a slump. This is a genuine mysterious phenomenon! So here's a quick rundown of things with as many or more unintentional walks than Albert Pujols this year:
I mean.
Sam Miller is an author of Baseball Prospectus. Follow @SamMillerBB
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That's a scary list, Sam, but I confess I'm not seeing the part about this slump going back to last year's All-Star break. The ASB last year came rather later than usual, and so the year was unevenly broken up. If you look at Pujols slash lines for the first (.280/.357/.500) and second (.319/.375/.584) halves, Pujols actually had a higher OBP in the second half. Granted, it wasn't by much, and probably influenced by more than twice as many IBB's (4 vs. 11) over a noticeably smaller number of plate appearances (342 vs. 309). Doing the math, Pujols BB/PA ratio (subtracting intentional walks) is .0906 in the first half, and .0485 in the second half. If that's what you're talking about, then I can get behind that comment; but it wasn't clear from your piece.
Ah, sorry for the confusion. Right, the slump didn't go back to the All-Star break; just the lack of walks did. Click on that link in the first sentence and I go into Pujols' second-half swing rate, unintentional-walk rate, etc. Clear change in approach starting around the All-Star break. But, yes, he raked in the second half overall, and I expect he will rake for the rest of this year, too.