Albert Pujols returned to the St. Louis Cardinals with a very clear game mission, who would have left that organization after concluding the 2011 season, wearing the team’s letters for another time in which he will mark his final campaign in the Major Leagues.
Pujols, a three-time MVP winner with the Cardinals in the past, returned to the team in a special role, playing a limited number of games, starting games or coming off the bench to face mostly left-handed pitchers.
Against the pitchers on the left side, the Dominican has had a dominant performance at will, against whom, in general in the 2022 campaign, he bats for an average of .398 (88-35), accompanied by an OPS of 1,242, against whom he has hit 10 homers and driven in 24 runs.
In his last seven games played, the 42-year-old has hit four homers against left-handed pitchers, extending his dominance when facing them.
From across the street, Pujols’ performance against right-handed pitching has been a complete antithesis to that against left-handers, posting a meager .186 batting average in 118 at-bats against right-handers while posting an OPS of just . 611.
Against right-handers, the Dominican has hit four home runs, supporting his 14 homers overall this season.
Pujols in a historic way against righties and lefties
Albert Pujols has had a long and successful career with a great place in the history of the Major Leagues, a time that has served him with great performances on offense no matter what hand his opponents throw with.
Against right-handers, Pujols maintains a good batting average of .295 and .905 OPS, accompanying himself with 496 home runs, 476 doubles, as well as 1,626 RBIs in 9,533 appearances and 8,365 lifetime at-bats.
Despite a sample limited to just 3,393 games and 2,955 at-bats against lefties, the Dominican’s performance has been -literally- grotesque, holding a .302 batting average, .955 OPS, while adding 206 doubles, 197 home runs and 562 laps driven for life.
The veteran of 22 seasons at the Major League level, has the good frequencies of 16.8 at-bats for each homer against right-handers, followed by a pleasant 15.0 in the same section in confrontations versus left-handers.
Pujols’ history against lefties and rights
shifts Home Runs Home Runs/At-Turn
Vs Lefties2,955 197 15.0
vs rights8,365 496 16.8