Soft Stuff Vexing Pujols

Unless you've been in a coma or decided to live like the Amish for a month, you probably know that Albert Pujols' Angels career is off to a hellish start. The $240 million man enters play Thursday with nary a home run in 107 plate appearances and a 55 OPS+ that, as Bob Uecker might say, is just a bit outside his normal range (Pujols' career OPS+ of 169 is seventh-best all time, ranking between Mickey Mantle and Ty Cobb).

Pujols isn't exactly scorching fastballs and sinkers this year, with a .404 slugging percentage against them that is 141 points below his 2011 mark. But that looks prolific next to his performance against "soft stuff -- curveballs, sliders and changeups. Pujols is batting -- and slugging -- .116 against breaking balls and off-speed pitches, compared to last year's .502 slugging percentage. That's one of the ten worst rates among qualified hitters this season:

Lowest slugging percentage vs. "Soft" pitches

Batter	Slug Pct.
Mark Reynolds	.040
Casey Kotchman	.043
Brandon Crawford	.048
Jason Kubel	.067
Russell Martin	.083
Freddy Galvis	.097
Shin-Soo Choo	.100
Albert Pujols	.116
Clint Barmes	.129
Carlos Pena	.143
MLB Avg.	.343

Pujols is scuffling and has yet to record an extra-base hit against soft stuff because he's chasing so many curves, sliders and changes of pace off the plate. Check out his swing rate by pitch location vs. soft pitches in 2011, and then with the Angels so far in 2012:

Pujols' swing rate vs. curveballs, sliders and changeups, 2011

Pujols' swing rate vs. curveballs, sliders and changeups, 2012He went after about 29 percent of soft stuff thrown out of the zone last year, below the 32 percent major league average. This year, though? 44 percent.

Pitchers have thrown Pujols slightly more soft stuff this year (38.8 percent of the time) than last (37.8 percent). Expect that rate to rise further if he keeps on going after so many breakers and changeups in the dirt.

Kendrys Morales' Splits

Angels DH Kendrys Morales is making progress in his recovery from the euphoria-turned-tragedy that occurred at home plate on May 29, 2010, when he shattered his left leg in a walk-off celebration. Morales appeared in L.A.'s lineup for the first time in nearly two years last week, though Angels manager Mike Scioscia told Fox Sports' Tracy Ringolsby that the 28-year-old will need ample rest:

"He has to get his body acclimated," Scioscia said.

Scioscia is aware the switch-hitting Morales will need some days off during the regular season. Most likely, those days will come against left-handed pitchers.

"He will DH against virtully every righty,'' Scioscia. "It's not going to be a play a ton, but there are going to be times he needs a day off.''

Timing those off days so Morales takes a seat against lefties looks like a solid strategy. The switch-hitter has a career .295/.354/.537 line in 924 plate appearances against right-handed pitching, but a comparatively paltry .255/.285/.403 triple-slash in 316 PA versus left-handers.

Given the 70-plus point difference in on-base percentage, you might think that Morales is more of a hacker against lefties than righties. But that's not the case: his chase rate dating back to 2008 (the first year of Pitch F/X data) is 32% from both sides of the plate. Rather, lefty pitchers go right after Morales while righties tiptoe around the plate.

Here's righty pitchers' location versus Morales from 2008-10:

Right-handed pitchers' location vs. Morales, 2008-10Right-handers placed just under 40% of their pitches in the zone against Morales, compared to the 46% average for righty-lefty confrontations. Now, look at where lefties have thrown to Morales. They like to locate on the outside corner:

Left-handed pitchers' location vs. Morales, 2008-10

Lefties have put 49% of their offerings in the zone, which is the MLB average for lefty-righty tussles. And Morales hasn't done much of anything on lefty pitches on the outside corner:

Morales' in-play slugging percentage by location vs. left-handed pitchers

Given Morales' platoon splits, Scioscia is smart to keep Morales in the lineup against righties and give his ankle a rest against the CC Sabtahias and Jon Lesters of the AL.

Bobby Abreu's Lefty Woes

While's he's not a happy spring camper, Bobby Abreu seems now seems resigned to a more limited role with the Angels in 2012. Abreu said last week that he would rather be traded than become a part-time player, but there's not much of a market for a soon-to-be-38-year-old owed $9 million who shouldn't go near a glove or step in the batter's box against lefty pitching.

Once one of the game's chronically underappreciated superstars, Abreu has racked up about as much career value (59 Baseball-Reference Wins Above Replacement) as Mike Piazza, Vlad Guerrero, Dave Winfield and Sammy Sosa. The current version of Abreu, however, isn't near as potent. He still has his trademark patience, swinging at the third-lowest rate of pitches thrown outside of the strike zone among MLB hitters in 2011, but his power is kaput. And that's especially the case against fellow left-handers:

Abreu's 2009-11 platoon splits

Pitcher Hand	AVG	OBP	SLUG	Plate Appearances
Vs Left	.245	.321	.339	574
Vs Right	.278	.384	.447	1345

He's still able to inflict some damage against righties, but he's bullied by lefties. The major problem for Abreu versus lefties is ground balls. He hit a grounder 44% of the time against right-handers over the past three years, but 56% versus southpaws. Take a look at Abreu's ground ball rate by pitch location against lefties, compared to the average lefty hitter. He's an automatic ground out on low pitches, but he also chops high offerings into the grass:

Abreu's ground ball rate by pitch location vs. left-handed pitching, 2009-11

Average ground ball rate by pitch location for left-handed hitters vs. left-handed pitchers, 2009-11

Considering that the Angels have Mike Trout near ready in the outfield and DH options like Kendrys Morales (if his ankle is healed) and Mark Trumbo, there's little reason for Abreu to see much time against lefties. Four-hundred plate appearances might not be what he wants, but that's what he should get at this late point in his excellent career.