Albert Pujols has been crushing the ball since Mickey Hatcher was fired

Albert Pujols is quietly coming on for the Angels after putting together one of the worst starts to the season in MLB. The All-Star slugger has at least a hit in 13 of his last 14 games, and his numbers have noticeably improved since the team fired Mickey Hatcher as hitting coach on May 15. The stats show a significant difference.

With Hatcher as coach (37 games/146 at-bats):

.212 avg, 1 HR, 14 RBIs, .288 slugging, .536 OPS, 6 BB/18 K

Without Hatcher as coach (10 games/39 at-bats):

.282 avg, 5 HRs, 11 RBIs, .692 slugging, .821 OPS, 5 BB/5 K

The media and fans often make batting coaches out to be poor, scapegoated souls when they get fired because a team slumps, but the truth is sometimes all players need is change in order to turn things around. This move certainly hasn’t hurt Pujols.

Photo Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE