Albert Pujols is proving to be a valuable piece on the St. Louis Cardinals roster in 2022.
At the plate, he has struggled a little bit, hitting just .200 with four home runs and 18 RBI.
But aside from that, he has still managed to hit left-handed pitching pretty well and has also been a solid mentor for the Cards’ young players.
On Wednesday night, Pujols picked up two hits off Atlanta Braves ace Max Fried, who shut the Cardinals out for six innings.
In the top of the eighth with Jesse Chavez on the mound and the bases loaded, manager Oli Marmol lifted Pujols and stuck Nolan Gorman in to pinch hit.
Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch had a chance to catch up with Pujols and ask him about that moment, as seen in the tweet below.
Got a chance today to ask Albert Pujols about being pinch-hit for by Nolan Gorman with the bases loaded in the eighth inning Wednesday night.
“He deserved that spot,” he answered. “He’s going to be in that spot a lot of times.”
Much more from AP5:#stlcards #MLB #Cardinals https://t.co/MXmvU5vG3h
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) July 8, 2022
Pujols Stays Humble
This is a classy response by Pujols.
He has always been very humble and modest about himself.
But he’s a great leader too.
He knows that he’s far from the player he used to be and that against right-handed pitching, his numbers aren’t very good.
But it’s good to see that he believes in Gorman and knows that Gorman is perfect for a bases-loaded situation when there’s a righty on the mound.
Though Gorman grounded out, it was ultimately the right move to stick him in that spot and pull Pujols.
Pujols is clearly a huge advocate for the Cardinals’ young stars and believes in them a great deal.
He understands that he isn’t the player he once was, but is a good leader and believes that the young guys deserve a chance to get some reps.
NEXT: Albert Pujols Joins A Fellow Living Legend With A Special Nod