Angels first baseman Albert Pujols won’t suit up again this year after undergoing “shockwave therapy” to treat plantar fasciitis in his right foot, as Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times was among those to tweet. Pujols previously dealt with that malady in his opposing foot back in 2013. Certainly, he’ll have plenty of time to rest and recover, though it’s yet another nick for a player who’ll soon turn 37. The legendary slugger continues a slow decline at the plate, though he’s still a useful hitter who has scarcely missed any time in his 16-year career. Over 650 plate appearances in 2016, Pujols posted a .268/.323/.457 slash with 31 home runs. The Halos will hope that he can at least maintain that level of productivity, as he’s slated to earn another $140MM over the next five seasons.
Here are a few more health-related notes from around the game:
- The Rockies are shutting down outfielder Gerardo Parra after he received a platelet-rich plasma injection in his left ankle, MLB.com’s Thomas Harding tweets. Parra has not found success in the first of his three years under contract in Colorado, putting up a .253/.271/.399 slash (despite playing half his games at Coors Field) in 381 plate appearances. With poorly-rated defense and baserunning mixed in, Parra has been worth a remarkable -1.8 fWAR and -2.9 rWAR despite playing only a little more than half the year due to ankle problems.
- The Rangers have officially activated outfielder Shin-Soo Choo from the 15-day DL, meaning that he’s ready for game action after missing extensive time with a forearm fracture. Choo, 34, will look to lock in and show he’s healthy for the postseason, where he could provide a nice boost for Texas. Though he has been limited to 198 plate appearances thus far, Choo owns a useful .247/.369/.416 batting line.
- Indians catcher Yan Gomes, too, is back earlier than expected, as Paul Hoynes of the Plain Dealer reports (Twitter links). Expectations are that he’ll only be available for the time being to play behind the plate, as he’s still regaining strength in his wrist after suffering a fracture. Manager Terry Francona says that Gomes is able to hit, but won’t do so in game action just yet. It’s unclear whether he’ll be under consideration for a spot in the ALDS roster, but given the limitations perhaps a return for the ALCS would be more plausible — if Cleveland can advance and decides to roll the dice on a player who has missed much of the year and has failed to produce at the plate when healthy.
- There’s some promising news for Pirates righty A.J. Schugel, who won’t require surgery on his rotator cuff, as Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports on Twitter. Instead, he’ll rest up and rehab his inflamed shoulder over the offseason. The 27-year-old had a solid campaign before the injury arose, contributing 52 innings in 36 appearances from the Pittsburgh pen while posting 8.0 K/9 against 2.3 BB/9.
So 31 hr and 119 RBI is slowing down? I think any team would take that joyfully!
Nobody says he’s not productive. Just overpayed especially for his age 37-42 seasons. Year after year he continues to be the machine, just without the overwhelming BA and OBP
For an organization, AP’s contract is the worst in the game. If the MLB was able do what the NFL can do….. dude would have been cut already so that the organization would have money to work with.
While still an above average player, he is undoubtedly declining. He’s hit for a 113 ops plus this year, but he’s still owed over 100 million on his current contract into his old age years.
140 over another 5 years that’s crazy!
For a lumbering first baseman who doesn’t get on base all that much anymore … yeah, I would say that.
The potency of Pujols’ bat and continued ability to hit xbh has greatly reduced the number of times other teams pitch around Trout or IBB him altogether. That is something which doesn’t show up in stats for Pujols.
Trout’s walk rate is the highest it’s ever been. Protection is a myth.
That’s the sort of ill-informed comment which comes from someone reading the stats but not watching the games.
Trout’s walks are up because his strikeouts are down. He has improved his eye each year since posting league-worst strikeouts in 2014. The down-and-away pitch he used to chase is now Ball 4, and Trout is seeing more pitches per PA than last year.
But when Pujols was out of the lineup, Trout often received 4 pitches out of the zone, just to see if he would chase. If not, he walks and the pitcher deals with Cron, Marte, or whoever else would follow Trout. He gets at least a few strikes with Pujols behind him.
Jeff what about the poor batting average and low OBP? Yes that is slowing down. Slow decline. Good luck with the next 5 years and 140 million. Would you sign him for that now? No chance!
did the angels really need pujols at the time?
Considering the Angels had their highest OPS in their history in 2012, I would say probably not. But at the same time they coming off a season where their offense was league average and at times worse. Also, I think the signing also had a lot to do with showing the Angels were still serious about contending as a high market franchise after their window had closed for a couple of years. The TV deal and attendance were motivators as well. The reasoning behind the signing made sense for the Angels. And I think we all knew he wasn’t going to be the same player. But regardless, you’re just going to get a power bat off the market like you could 10-15 years ago. And Angels fans get to watch him climb the all time lists right in front of them. So that contract still serves its purpose whether or not Albert Pujols is overpaid.
At the time , did the angels really need to go out and sign pujols? Even though they had trumbo and morales coming back from injury.
No. This is just one signing of a lost organization, that has become arguably the worst organization in the game.
Ass to that… The Hamilton signing… of the kakabrainiacs who were running Angels at that time would had played the cards right, they would have had one of the best, if not the bear powerhouse of the league with Cron, Morales, Trumbo, and Trout, and would have had enough cash to land decent pitching…
Sorry for the typos … I meant to say .. Add to that… If the…
Cherry-picking stats. Trumbo is having an excellent power year in BAL, but was offensively horrible and considered replaceable in AZ and SEA. Combined with Morales, you have 2 DH and no defensive position for either since Cron would be 1B (no, Trumbo is not in RF).
Flipping Trumbo for Santiago and Skaggs was a genius move. Not so good for AZ.
Flipping Morales for Vargas also worked out well for Angels, not so good for SEA.