Ok, what can Albert Pujols do, and is he worth a roster spot? [View all]
Well....
As an every day DH/back up 1st baseman, the answers are "not much" and "no"
But hold on a minute.
Those spots on the bench are less valuable now with a 28 man roster, and it looks like the Dodgers cracked the Pujols code in the second half of the year.
Here's his stats from 2021 with the dodgers.
GP AB R H RBI BB SO HR Avg
85 189 20 48 38 11 32 12 .254
He played as the DH against lefties and as a power threat off the bench against lefty relievers - which is only possible because of the "must face 3 batters" relief pitching rule enacted a couple years ago.
So Albert comes back to STL 21 home runs shy of 700 and I believe he can get there.
Here's why - While Busch Stadium is not a band box like Cincinnati, it is easier to find the seats here compared to Dodgers Stadium, the most notorious pitchers park in the MLB
Also, since he's back in the NL central he gets to play in Cincy and Pittsburgh pretty often, and uhhmm, they both suck. Their ballparks don't do a great job containing fly balls either.
So, if (and yeah it's a big if at his age) he can stay healthy 700 homers are in play
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