LA Angels: Halos are getting offensive production from these 2 veterans

In possibly his final MLB season and the final year of his historic ten-year, $240 million deal with the Angels, first baseman Albert Pujols is looking to go out with a bang.

The future Hall of Famer is tied for third on the team in home runs (5), and fourth in RBI (12) through 19 games this season. His .224 batting average isn’t anything to write home about, but his .448 slugging percentage is well above league average (.390) and his highest since 2015 (.480), the last time Pujols was named an All-Star. Pujols also ranks in the Top-6 percent of the majors with an 11.1 strikeout percentage this season.

The Angels will benefit with any production from Albert Pujols.

At this point in his career, it’s asking a lot for Pujols to go back to his days as a .300 hitter, so getting a hit in one out of every four at-bats (.250 BA) would be more than ideal for this Angels offense.

Some other advanced metrics that show Pujols’ production are his average exit velocity (90.7 MPH) which is fifth on the team and his Expected Weighted On-Base Average (.391 xwOBA) which is good for third on the Halos and Top-40 in the majors. Pujols ranks 34th in the league in xwOBA just behind Mets first baseman Pete Alonso (.393 xwOBA). He is also three percent above MLB’s average Weighted Runs Created-Plus (100) with a 103 wRC+.

Pujols isn’t putting up the production some would prefer on a $30 million salary, but he’s still contributing the Angels offense nonetheless. That’s plenty more than most 41-year-olds can say.