Dodgers News: Albert Pujols’ Playing Time in Jeopardy
Since day 1 of moving up the 5 freeway from Anaheim to the Dodgers, Albert Pujols has become a fan favorite among Dodger fans. Whether he’s embracing teammates in absolute bear hugs or adding to his Hall of Fame resume, he’s a sight to see.
Unfortunately, we’ll be seeing less of him on the field during the stretch run. With the lineup back to full strength with the return of Mookie Betts, Dave Roberts mentioned Pujols will see a decline in his playing time.
Dave Roberts spoke about the inevitable decline in opportunity prior to Pujols’ start on Friday.
Yeah, if we have our 8 guys, 8 or 9 guys, that are gonna play regardless of handiness. Albert understands that because when he came on board, the landscape – the roster was different. He helped us certainly get from there to here, and he’s gonna help us going forward. If it doesn’t make sense as far as off days then he might be off the bench.
At this point in his career, Pujols was never going to remain a starter for long. He’s made an impact on this team that can’t be measured by stats alone. However, the Dodgers don’t need Pujols to during the regular season with the offense healthy. During the postseason is where he should truly shine.
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Of course, Tío Albert won’t get many chances to start there either, yet he’ll prove to be a lethal bat off of the bench against southpaws. He’s torched left-handers this season with a .305 batting average with 11 home runs and 30 RBI in 118 at-bats. He undoubtedly will make LA’s bench much deeper come October.
Still, it’ll be a big blow to fans who love them some Albert Pujols.
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Maybe Roberts can bench Bellinger while he’s at it. Against lefty’s I think he might be 0 for August.
At least AP makes contact. Bellinger can’t even do that! He will cost us big time in the playoffs! Keep his a—— on the bench!
Again, that’s Roberts for ya, playing favorites with Bellinger no matter the cost to the team and in the game. No point in talking about it anymore cause the stubborn Roberts won’t change.
The most important thing is being healthy for the post-season. Period. Even more important than winning the division…
Get rid of roberts he must go
Maybe if the Dodgers could more than 2 runs against the Rockies pitching staff it would not matter that much.
I wasn’t aware that the idiot manager was planning yet another BP game on Sunday?
He doesn’t understand that when you’re in a hole, you need to stop digging.
The 16 Inning Game against the Padres on Wednesday:
Top 10th – score tied 1:1, Pollock on Third, one out.
Chris Taylor at the plate. Instead of bunting in the sure run, Roberts had Taylor swing. Taylor flied out. Smith struck out next. Inning over.
Top 12th – score tied 1:1, Muncy moved from Second to Third from a wild pitch, nobody out.
JT next, reached 1st on intentional walk. Runners on 1st & 3rd, still nobody out. Pollock at the plate. Instead of bunting in the sure run. Roberts had Pollock swing. Pollock hit into a fielder’s choice, Muncy tagged out at home plate. Seager struck out. Smith flied out. Inning over.
Top 13th – score tied 1:1, Smith on Third, No outs. Matt Beaty pinch hit. Instead of bunting in the sure run, Roberts had Beaty swing, he lined out, Smith remained on Third. One out. JT comes up, again, instead of bunting in the sure run, Roberts let JT hit, JT hit into a fielder’s choice, Smith out at home plate. Two outs. Muncy up, struck out. Inning over.
3 freaking innings when the Dodgers could have scored the sure run on a bunt and WIN the game
Dave Roberts opted for the swing, each time it blew up on his face. This is not the first time Roberts did this, this goes all the way back to 2014 when Roberts did the same thing, opted for swing instead of bunting to score the sure run, causing games after games. He lost a game in the 2019 divisional series using the same tactic, refusing to bunt in the sure run instead opted for the swing and out.
This guy just doesn’t use any common sense. I can’t wait to see more dumb moves coming up during the stretch run. I’m actually glad he’s not going to play Pujols more. Just keep putting Cody Bellinger in the lineup, we would love to see how many more times Bellinger chokes at the plate, this is how the story would end: “everyone saw it coming except for Dave Roberts”.
Roberts managing decisions are hardly worth going over game by game. He would be a failure managing a Little League team……Pathetic….no excuses with his over infatuation with Bellinger.
Why is he even doing post game interviews? Get rid of him. And Trade Bellinger…although at this point, who would want him?
Bellinger deserves to be sent down, not Beatty. The Dodgers don’t really bunt much, so I’m not sure that would be a great idea, but they could have been a little more aggressive on the basepaths. After so much offensive ineptitude, why not send the runner home from second on a base hit? Make them throw you out. How about an occasional hit and run? An occasional stolen base? How about letting some of these pitchers in a bullpen game go longer than 1 or 2 innings if they are doing ok or just giving Jackson the starts. He’s doing well.
I hope Albert gets traded to a team like KC. A team where he can get more at bats. I would really like to see him pass ARod’s HR total, before he retires. 3rd place all-time and the top Latino player would be nice.
Beaty is a valuable player, too bad he can’t play full time, but eventually someone will snatch him up.
Not having Pujols at first base on September 3rd caused loss to Giants as catcher too short to cash ball in last inning.