Life’s tough when you’re 41 and on aging wheels like Albert Pujols.
Pujols on Tuesday played in his second game with the Los Angeles Dodgers since signing with them. He began their game against Arizona 0-for-2 as the No. 6 hitter. In each at-bat, the Diamondbacks had Pujols well-positioned.
Nick Ahmed was lined up in shallow left in the second inning and came up to make a play on a grounder and throw out Pujols at first.
D-Backs shortstop Nick Ahmed came ~in~ from left field to make this play and throw out Albert Pujols on this grounder. pic.twitter.com/D0GkorDTBR
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) May 19, 2021
Then in the fourth inning, Ahmed did it again. He threw out Pujols from left field.
Nick Ahmed threw Albert Pujols out from left field again. pic.twitter.com/y1Y9dVtirv
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) May 19, 2021
Nick Ahmed throws out Albert Pujols from short left field — with #MLBFieldVision tracking
Ahmed's starting depth: 177 feet
Pujols' sprint speed: 23.8 ft/sec
(MLB average speed = 27 ft/sec) pic.twitter.com/eJma2bXQWb— David Adler (@_dadler) May 19, 2021
Getting thrown out from the outfield is pretty embarrassing. But Pujols did hit the second ball extremely hard, which is part of why he was unable to beat it out. The other reason is because he just does not run well anymore.
By the way, in the sixth inning, Pujols again grounded the ball towards the left side of the infield. That time it was third baseman Eduardo Escobar who cut the ball off to make the play.
Pujols batted .198 with the Angels before being let go by them. He was batting .194 with the Dodgers after beginning Tuesday’s game 0-for-3.
