Pardon 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:
- Four NL teams' pitchers;
- Every team's first basemen;
- Every team's catchers;
- Thirteen of 14 AL teams' no. 9 hitters;
- Ian Kennedy;
- Mark DeRosa,
- Yuniesky Betancourt;
- Jeff Mathis;
- Mark Reynolds, and Nick Markakis, each, in the same game.
I mean.
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Seriously, how can this not be a vision-issue?
This has gone beyond a slow start. Remember how bad Vernon Wells was last year? He had a .527 OPS on this date in 2011. Pujols is at .505.