Rise of The Machine: An Albert Pujols Update

One of my first posts of the baseball season was a look at Albert Pujols' home run drought. It took a grand total of like three days for Pujols to make me look foolish.

At the time, I used FanGraphs' player page to point out that Pujols was swinging at more pitches outside the strike zone -- from a career number of 21% up to 41%. Here's what I concluded:

Pujols just signed a $240 million contract, might be (understandably) feeling the pressure to earn that contract in a new city, and is pressing, going after pitches he normally would lay off, causing more strikeouts when he misses and a little weaker contact even when he connects.

Since that time, Pujols has seen 388 pitches out of the strike zone, and swung at 33% of them, right in line with last season's numbers. And wouldn't you know it: Pujols has hit 14 home runs in the last two months. That's a home run in 5.4% of those 261 plate appearances, closer to his career rate of 6%. It's also worth pointing out that Pujols' HR/FB rate over that time is 16.9%, a bit below his career rate of 19%. That means you should expect more home runs in the second half.

The Dutch Oven Overheats

Yea, and when the Philistines hath batted around in the inning, Maddux brother of Greg pulleth Holland and summoned yon reliever.

It's been a rough couple of weeks for Rangers starter Derek Holland. Just after Memorial Day, Holland made the anemic Seattle Mariners look like the '27 Yankees, giving up eight runs in less than two innings May 30. Just to prove it was no fluke, Holland labored through a five-inning start against the Oakland A's in the pitcher's haven that is the Oakland Coliseum.

The Rangers put Holland on the disabled list with a "fatigued shoulder" and blamed a stomach virus that saw "The Dutch Oven" drop some 15 pounds. But Grantland's Jonah Keri has the real story: