Monday, October 23, 2006
The Slugging of Albert Pujols & The RBI Watch: Update Edition
Originally posted May 24, 2006.
All right; so his RBI production has dropped off every year Albert Pujols has been in the league, as I mentioned in an earlier post, but that doesn’t look to a problem so far this year: 57 RBI in 46 games? 23 bombs? That works out to 84 HR and 200 RBI...so I’d have to say that if he doesn’t shoot past that 130 RBI high-water mark, it’ll have been because he got hit by a bus.
As for Boston’s "crappy" trade of Bronson Arroyo for Wily Mo Pena, Arroyo’s cruising along at 6-2 in 10 starts with a 2.29 ERA and 1.06 WHIP for the equally surprising Cincinnati Reds, while the Red Sox have Wily Mo starting in CENTER (?), hitting .327 with an OPS of .879...or, 4 HR and 18 RBI in 33 games. Still a crappy trade for Boston, though Arroyo, as expected, hasn’t kept up his early-season power-hitting, as those 2 HR and resultant 2 RBI remain his only entries in those categories, not to mention his .071 batting average. But, who cares?
Speaking of Who Cares, the new leader in Pitcher RBI is Arizona’s Brandon Webb, leading the charge with a robust 7 on .179 hitting...while also posting a 7-0 record in 10 starts, a 2.44 ERA, and a 1.10 WHIP. That’s a phenomenal start to the year on both sides of the batter’s box, and he’s a good 3 ribbies up on the nearest pitcher.
As for my original belief in regards to the "irredeemably pathetic" Houston Astros’ offense, well, it looks as though Lance Berkman is going to quash that idea all by himself: .304/.996, 14 HR, 43 RBI in 42 games will tend to do that...though maybe I was channeling the San Antonio Spurs’ Game 7 overtime performance against Dallas in talking about "offensively inept" teams.
Oooh...burn. ¶ 2:47 PM
All right; so his RBI production has dropped off every year Albert Pujols has been in the league, as I mentioned in an earlier post, but that doesn’t look to a problem so far this year: 57 RBI in 46 games? 23 bombs? That works out to 84 HR and 200 RBI...so I’d have to say that if he doesn’t shoot past that 130 RBI high-water mark, it’ll have been because he got hit by a bus.
As for Boston’s "crappy" trade of Bronson Arroyo for Wily Mo Pena, Arroyo’s cruising along at 6-2 in 10 starts with a 2.29 ERA and 1.06 WHIP for the equally surprising Cincinnati Reds, while the Red Sox have Wily Mo starting in CENTER (?), hitting .327 with an OPS of .879...or, 4 HR and 18 RBI in 33 games. Still a crappy trade for Boston, though Arroyo, as expected, hasn’t kept up his early-season power-hitting, as those 2 HR and resultant 2 RBI remain his only entries in those categories, not to mention his .071 batting average. But, who cares?
Speaking of Who Cares, the new leader in Pitcher RBI is Arizona’s Brandon Webb, leading the charge with a robust 7 on .179 hitting...while also posting a 7-0 record in 10 starts, a 2.44 ERA, and a 1.10 WHIP. That’s a phenomenal start to the year on both sides of the batter’s box, and he’s a good 3 ribbies up on the nearest pitcher.
As for my original belief in regards to the "irredeemably pathetic" Houston Astros’ offense, well, it looks as though Lance Berkman is going to quash that idea all by himself: .304/.996, 14 HR, 43 RBI in 42 games will tend to do that...though maybe I was channeling the San Antonio Spurs’ Game 7 overtime performance against Dallas in talking about "offensively inept" teams.
Oooh...burn. ¶ 2:47 PM
