Los Angeles Angels First Baseman Albert Pujols Ends Longest Home Run Drought Of Career
Los Angeles Angels first baseman Albert Pujols has finally hit his first regular-season home run since joining the Los Angeles Angels, ending the longest drought of his 12-year career after 33 games and 139 at-bats.
Pujols’ two-run bomb on Sunday came in the fifth inning against Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Drew Hutchison.
Pujols, who is a career .327 hitter, was playing his 28th game for the Angels since leaving the St. Louis Cardinals and signing a whopping 10 year, $240 million contract. The homer, estimated at 390 feet, came in his 111 at-bat for the Angels.
Pujols’ home run was his 446th in the big leagues since debuting in 2001 with the Cards. The homer was also Pujols’ first bomb at Angel Stadium, the 31st big league ballpark in which he’s hit one out.
Pujols’ longest homer drought prior to this was in 2011, when he came up empty in 27 straight games and 105 at-bats. Pujols, 32, has averaged a ridiculous 40.5 home runs during his 11 seasons with the Cardinals, including a career-best 49 in 2006. He is also the only player in major league history to hit at least 30 homers in each of his first 11 big league seasons.
April was the worst month of Albert Pujols’ career. His OPS was .561, almost 200 points lower than his previous worst month’s OPS. Previously, he has never played one month without hitting a home run in his career, and he has played 67 months in Major League Baseball.
I still expect Pujols will hit 30 homers and have over 100 RBI’s just like every other year. This future Hall of Famer, will get back on track, and today is just the start of it.
