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04/22/2008 8:40 PM ET
Pujols takes streak to a favorite park
St. Louis (13-8) at Pittsburgh (7-12), Wednesday, 6:05 p.m. CT
By Matthew Leach / MLB.com
A slow start in 2007 taught Albert Pujols a valuable lesson: don't force it.
Pujols admits that he got away from his patient approach in '07, chasing pitches out of the strike zone when he should have been laying off. In 2008, Pujols has been happy to take his walks.
As a result, Pujols has reached base by hit or walk in all 21 of the Cardinals' games this year, and he'll try to make it 22 in the series opener in Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
Yet what stands out as much as anything is that Pujols has lost none of his aggressiveness when he does get pitches in the strike zone. He's seeing fewer strikes than ever before in his career -- 46 percent of the pitches thrown to him have been strikes, according to baseball-reference.com -- but he's also having shorter plate appearances.
And the results are unassailable, as Pujols is hitting .352 with a .495 on-base percentage and a .606 slugging percentage.
"I'm seeing the ball really good," he said. "I'm really being disciplined at the plate. I think last year, pressing a little bit in the first two months helped me out a lot in my career. This year, even though I had a slow start, I wasn't pushing. I knew that my numbers were going to be there. I needed to take my walks."
It's a difficult line to walk, staying patient when so many pitches are out of the strike zone, yet maintaining the readiness to his pitches in the zone.
Pujols has expressed, and demonstrated, an increased willingness to swing at a first-pitch strike this year, and in fact he's swinging at 17 percent of first pitches -- up from 12 percent last year but still down from his 22 percent career average.
"We talk about it," hitting coach Hal McRae said. "He actually does it. We can only talk about it. But we encourage him to take his walks. He has a good eye anyway. So it's mainly, don't get anxious. Be willing to take your walks. We've talked about that, but he actually does that."
Pitching matchup
STL: RHP Todd Wellemeyer (2-0, 3.24 ERA)
Wellemeyer keeps getting better and keeps strengthening his case to stay in the rotation even when some of the Cardinals' injured starters begin coming back. He's averaging more than a strikeout per inning and he's totaled 20 innings over his past three starts. Wellemeyer has displayed a newfound efficiency this year, and his stuff is still impressive. It's early, but he's emerging as one of the surprise players of 2008.
PIT: RHP Ian Snell (2-1, 4.07 ERA)
Though Snell limited the Cubs to three runs in six innings of work (all the runs coming in the fourth) in his last start, he was ultimately hurt by the Pirates' lack of run support. After struggling in his previous start, Snell slowed himself down and said that he tried not to think as much about the location of his pitches. As a result, Snell's command was much sharper. Snell has faced the Cardinals eight times (seven starts) in his career, and has a 3-3 record and 3.40 ERA against the club.
Tidbits
Pujols is 9-for-16 with four home runs against Snell. ... The Cardinals have won the season series against the Pirates in each of the past eight seasons. They are 41-17 in Pittsburgh since PNC Park opened in 2001. ... In 15 career Major League starts, Wellemeyer is 5-1 with a 3.52 ERA, 62 strikeouts and 32 walks in 74 1/3 innings. ... Pujols' 20 home runs at PNC Park are by far the most by a visiting player. Lance Berkman is a distant second with 12.
Tickets
Buy tickets now to catch the game in person.
On the Internet
MLB.TV
Gameday Audio
• Gameday
• Official game notes
On television
• FSN
On radio
• KTRS 550
Up next
• Thursday: Cardinals (Joel Pineiro, 0-2, 8.10) at Pirates (Tom Gorzelanny, 1-2, 9.35), 6:05 p.m. CT
• Friday: Cardinals (Braden Looper, 3-1, 5.49) vs. Astros (Shawn Chacon, 0-0, 2.77), 7:15 p.m. CT
• Saturday: Cardinals (Adam Wainwright, 2-1, 2.73) vs. Astros (Roy Oswalt, 2-3, 6.00), 12:10 p.m. CT
Pujols takes streak to a favorite park
St. Louis (13-8) at Pittsburgh (7-12), Wednesday, 6:05 p.m. CT
By Matthew Leach / MLB.com
A slow start in 2007 taught Albert Pujols a valuable lesson: don't force it.
Pujols admits that he got away from his patient approach in '07, chasing pitches out of the strike zone when he should have been laying off. In 2008, Pujols has been happy to take his walks.
As a result, Pujols has reached base by hit or walk in all 21 of the Cardinals' games this year, and he'll try to make it 22 in the series opener in Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
Yet what stands out as much as anything is that Pujols has lost none of his aggressiveness when he does get pitches in the strike zone. He's seeing fewer strikes than ever before in his career -- 46 percent of the pitches thrown to him have been strikes, according to baseball-reference.com -- but he's also having shorter plate appearances.
And the results are unassailable, as Pujols is hitting .352 with a .495 on-base percentage and a .606 slugging percentage.
"I'm seeing the ball really good," he said. "I'm really being disciplined at the plate. I think last year, pressing a little bit in the first two months helped me out a lot in my career. This year, even though I had a slow start, I wasn't pushing. I knew that my numbers were going to be there. I needed to take my walks."
It's a difficult line to walk, staying patient when so many pitches are out of the strike zone, yet maintaining the readiness to his pitches in the zone.
Pujols has expressed, and demonstrated, an increased willingness to swing at a first-pitch strike this year, and in fact he's swinging at 17 percent of first pitches -- up from 12 percent last year but still down from his 22 percent career average.
"We talk about it," hitting coach Hal McRae said. "He actually does it. We can only talk about it. But we encourage him to take his walks. He has a good eye anyway. So it's mainly, don't get anxious. Be willing to take your walks. We've talked about that, but he actually does that."
Pitching matchup
STL: RHP Todd Wellemeyer (2-0, 3.24 ERA)
Wellemeyer keeps getting better and keeps strengthening his case to stay in the rotation even when some of the Cardinals' injured starters begin coming back. He's averaging more than a strikeout per inning and he's totaled 20 innings over his past three starts. Wellemeyer has displayed a newfound efficiency this year, and his stuff is still impressive. It's early, but he's emerging as one of the surprise players of 2008.
PIT: RHP Ian Snell (2-1, 4.07 ERA)
Though Snell limited the Cubs to three runs in six innings of work (all the runs coming in the fourth) in his last start, he was ultimately hurt by the Pirates' lack of run support. After struggling in his previous start, Snell slowed himself down and said that he tried not to think as much about the location of his pitches. As a result, Snell's command was much sharper. Snell has faced the Cardinals eight times (seven starts) in his career, and has a 3-3 record and 3.40 ERA against the club.
Tidbits
Pujols is 9-for-16 with four home runs against Snell. ... The Cardinals have won the season series against the Pirates in each of the past eight seasons. They are 41-17 in Pittsburgh since PNC Park opened in 2001. ... In 15 career Major League starts, Wellemeyer is 5-1 with a 3.52 ERA, 62 strikeouts and 32 walks in 74 1/3 innings. ... Pujols' 20 home runs at PNC Park are by far the most by a visiting player. Lance Berkman is a distant second with 12.
Tickets
Buy tickets now to catch the game in person.
On the Internet
MLB.TV
Gameday Audio
• Gameday
• Official game notes
On television
• FSN
On radio
• KTRS 550
Up next
• Thursday: Cardinals (Joel Pineiro, 0-2, 8.10) at Pirates (Tom Gorzelanny, 1-2, 9.35), 6:05 p.m. CT
• Friday: Cardinals (Braden Looper, 3-1, 5.49) vs. Astros (Shawn Chacon, 0-0, 2.77), 7:15 p.m. CT
• Saturday: Cardinals (Adam Wainwright, 2-1, 2.73) vs. Astros (Roy Oswalt, 2-3, 6.00), 12:10 p.m. CT
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