Inside Look: Albert Pujols’ Plate Appearances
When the time comes, first baseman Albert Pujols will undoubtedly be enshrined into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. The 31-year-old Dominican native won his second World Series title on Oct. 28, 2011 after his St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Texas Rangers in seven thrilling games. Although the series MVP was awarded to Pujols’ teammate, David Freese, Pujols also contributed to the team, most notably blasting three home runs in Game 3 of the Fall Classic. With Pujols set to become a free agent this offseason, many teams have to decide whether or not they want to try to sign Pujols, a player who will surely be demanding a great deal of money. Let’s look at the pie chart below that depicts the likelihood of possible scenarios when the slugger steps to the plate. Here’s the graph, followed by a more detailed explanation below:
The entire pie (all 100 percent) represents the 7,433 plate appearances Albert Pujols has had throughout his career. The slices of the pie depict the distributions of various scenarios when he bats.
Non-baseball fans may wonder how Albert Pujols could be a definite Hall of Famer, given that he gets out 58 percent (23.5+25+9.5 or fly outs+ground outs+strike outs) of the time he comes to the plate. For one, hitting a baseball that is thrown up to 100 miles per hour (sometimes faster) can be extremely difficult. In addition, pitchers strive to confuse opposing batters with slower pitchers that move rapidly, such as curveballs and sliders. For those reasons, hitters that can reach base 35 percent of the time are lauded for their abilities; Pujols boasts an impressive career on-base percentage of .420 (100 minus the 58 percent of the time he gets out). Pujols’ .420 on-base percentage places him tied with Mickey Mantle for 18th all-time in that category.
Interestingly enough, Pujols hits a home run six percent of the time he comes to the plate. Again, that may not seem like a robust number, but Pujols is widely regarded as one of the best home run hitters in the MLB. Throughout his career, the first baseman has been one of the most efficient home run hitters to ever play the game. In fact, Pujols’ 14.18 at bats per home run clip ranks seventh all-time behind such celebrated home run hitters as Mark McGwire, Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds, among others.