"If they knew that I can't bring anything to the table, I wouldn't be here" - St. Louis Cardinals' 3-time MVP knows his worth, expects to help his team win
Legendary first baseman Albert Pujols made his first appearance back for the St. Louis Cardinals in Spring Training. He started the game in the designated hitter role as the Cardinals thumped the Washington Nationals, 29-8 at the Ballpark of the Palm Beaches in Palm Beach, Florida.
There was a sense of nostalgia when he walked onto the field during pre-game warmups, much to the delight of the many Cardinals fans who traveled to Florida just to see the return of the club hero. Pujols batted fourth in the order and finished with one hit in three plate appearances.
Taking the field, number 5, Albert Pujols! https://t.co/cCUUzVr5ZO
"The Machine" reiterated that he signed with the Cardinals, not just for nostalgia's sake, but to contribute and help the team for the upcoming season.
"If they knew that I can't bring anything to the table, I wouldn't be here," Pujols said. "This has never been about me. Believe it or not, for 21 years, it's about the uniform that I represent."
The St. Louis Cardinals legend's first at-bat of the day came against Anibal Sanchez. The bases were loaded when Pujols grounded into a double play. His teammate Dylan Carlson scored on the play, however, that gave the Cards a 1-0 lead.
In his next plate appearance, he popped up to Nationals infielder Maikel Franco with two runners left on base.
In the fourth inning, Pujols singled off Sanchez and recorded his first hit of Spring Training. Pinch-runner Mack Chambers then came into the game to sub him off.
Loving him was red 🎵 Loving him was red 🎵
In his first Spring Training game back with the @Cardinals, @PujolsFive singles the opposite way. https://t.co/pSkqVabzCQ
The St. Louis Cardinals faithful will be psyched to see if the club icon can inspire the team to another productive season. Nobody fancied the team coming into 2021, but they embarked on a 17-game winning streak that propelled them to the playoff picture, but they just came up short.
St. Louis Cardinals' manager easing Pujols into the lineup
It will be a tall task for the young St. Louis Cardinals skipper Oliver Marmol to steer the team to playoff contention this season. He has, however, shown enthusiasm in using and playing Albert Pujols in the starting lineup.
At the start of the week, the manager placed Pujols in the batting cage for some work, and the following day, he assigned him to fielding practice duties and another batting practice.
“He had a good day in the cage, and [I] felt like a couple of at-bats made sense today,” Marmol said in an interview with Bill Ladson of MLB.com
There is still some uncertainty about whether or not Pujols will be in the Opening Day roster. Most likely, he will play either as a designated or a first baseman during the course of the season.